


Ready to Suffer, Ready to Hope

by nothingicanthandle



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-08-16 11:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 51,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8101081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingicanthandle/pseuds/nothingicanthandle
Summary: It's nearing the beginning of their season and Christen has just returned from a youth national team camp. There's an obvious tension between her and Tobin considering how they left things at the end of summer. Meanwhile, Alex has recently moved to town and has taken a liking to a certain Kelley O'Hara, who is unfortunately spending her time pining after an unavailable Hope Solo. Despite how much the team doesn't want drama to affect their season, that seems unavoidable as Christen struggles to make things right with Tobin, Alex watches helplessly as Kelley focuses her attention on Hope, and Carli and Hope's relationship starts to break apart. With the way things are going, there may not even be a team left by the end of the season.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so this is just basically a USWNT high school AU. I won't tell you endgame ships, mostly because I don't know them yet completely myself. This is my first work on this site and since I've outlined the next couple of chapters, hopefully I won't take longer than two weeks to update this story, but that could change. Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think!

She didn’t know what she was doing there. Large crowds, loud noises, and all in support of a sport she didn’t care much for were things that she easily could’ve spent her friday without. At the sound of a familiar voice calling her name, however, she immediately remembers the reason for her presence.

A bet. She had lost a bet and had been forced out of the cozy depths of her room to come to the overcrowded stadium in which she would have to suffer through her friends cheering loudly for the football team all while trying to manage not to go deaf or be smacked in the face by the overexcited hands of the “fans”.

“Tobs!” Her friend called out, causing her to turn around and face the blonde girl walking towards her with a familiar 5’5” brunette trailing slightly behind her. “You actually came.”

Tobin scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You act like I’ve never followed the rules of a bet, Ash,” she said.

The blonde, Ashlyn, shrugged. “Yeah, but I thought this would be completely off limits. You hate these things.”

“Glad to see you’re aware of how much this all pains me,” Tobin retorted. Her eyes moved to the shorter girl behind her friend, brows furrowing when she noticed Kelley’s eyes were scanning across the bleachers and even alongside the field. “Kel?” No response. She tried again. “Kel? Kelley?”

The brunette finally turned to face Tobin. “Yeah?” she responded.

“You okay?” Tobin asked.

Ashlyn sighed. “She’s looking for a certain keeper,” she answered for her, causing Kelley to shake her head and smack her in the arm. Tobin nodded in understanding. “I really don’t know why you’re still bothering with that whole mess, Kel.”

“It’s not a mess, Ash,” Kelley said.

The blonde glanced over at Kelley before catching a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. A sigh escaped her lips as she spoke, gesturing over to a couple on the bleachers. “So then why’s she sitting over there with Carli having a hell of a time?”

Both Kelley and Tobin followed her gaze, their eyes landing on Hope and Carli sat a bit higher up on the bleachers, Hope’s arm wrapped around Carli’s shoulder as two shared a laugh. It was all Tobin could do to look away when the couple locked lips right there, instead focusing her attention on the seemingly heartbroken Kelley only several feet away from her.

The crestfallen expression that appeared on her face at the sight of her crush with her longtime girlfriend, clearly very much in love, disappeared in a matter of milliseconds that if Tobin and Ashlyn didn’t know her so well, they would’ve thought they had imagined the entire thing. A calm expression took over Kelley’s features instead and they must’ve been standing there for a while because the next thing they knew, kickoff had begun and the crowd erupted into cheers. The fact that they continued to stand there, clearly not taking part in the excitement of the crowd caused them to stand out to no one other than Hope herself.

“Kel!” The voice cut through the air despite the loud cheers around them. Tobin glanced over at Hope beginning to stand from her seat and pressing a kiss into Carli’s hair before starting to make her way down the bleachers towards them. She looked over at Kelley who clearly had not been anticipating the situation and suddenly looked like she wanted to disappear. Making eye contact with Ashlyn, Tobin nodded as she watched her blonde friend escort Kelley off the bleachers and move alongside the field to the other end of the bleachers.

By the time she turned back around, she came face to face with a confused Hope. “Uh, hey, Tobin,” she breathed out, clearly surprised to see her there. “I didn’t know you came to these things.”

“I don’t,” Tobin answered curtly, shrugging.

Hope nodded before clearing her throat. “Well, uh… Do you know where Kelley and Ashlyn were heading? I was just going to offer up the seats by me and Carli if you guys wanted them,” she explained.

“No, we’re alright. Wouldn’t want to impose.”

“You wouldn’t be imposing. Carli’s kind of been going on about team bonding, anyway, so she thought we could hang out since a good number of us are here.” It was obvious by Hope’s tone that she was grasping at straws here.

“We’re fine, Hope,” Tobin said again, wanting to stop any more of her attempts at persuasion.

“Oh. Well, uh… just tell Kelley I said hi then,” Hope said. Tobin nodded before Hope added, as more of an afterthought, “And Ashlyn, too.”

Tobin nodded again before leaning to look past Hope’s shoulder towards Carli who seemed to be watching the two of them speak with a curious expression. She did her best to plaster on a smile before waving to her captain. Giving Hope another curt nod, she turned around made her way towards where she had seen Kelley and Ashlyn went earlier.

Spotting the two at the end of bleachers, separated from the rest of the crowd, Tobin moved up the steps towards them. She plopped down in the empty space next to Kelley, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer.

She leaned forward, glancing over at Ashlyn on the other side of Kelley. The two shared a look before Tobin returned her attention to the girl by her side. “Alright, c’mon, Kel,” she said, pulling her up by the arm as she stood.

“What?” Kelley replied, brows scrunching together in confusion as she looked up at Tobin. “What are you doing?”

“Getting some food,” Tobin answered, shrugging. “If I’m going to be made to suffer through this mess, then I’m going to do it with some cheese fries.”

“Oh.” A breath of relief escaped Kelley. “Good idea,” she said, nodding. “I’m starving.”

The two left Ashlyn on the bleachers, promising to get her her own set of fries. The girls strolled along the edge of the football field, making sure to go along the other side of the field to avoid even walking past Hope and Carli.

By the time they arrived at the concession stand, there weren’t many people and they barely waited a minute before they moved up to the counter to place their orders.

“What about you, Kel?” Tobin asked, looking over at her friend after ordering two sets of cheese fries. “Kelley.” No response. Tobin released a sigh before turning back to the girl behind the counter. “Alright, nachos for her then.”

The girl nodded, calling the order back to the people making the food before returning her attention to Tobin. “Is she okay?” she asked, gesturing over to Kelley who seemed to have her eyes trained across the field.

“I hope so.” Tobin sighed, pulling out her wallet to pay for the food. “Thanks.” She tugged on Kelley’s arm, pulling her over to the pickup window.

That seemed to pull the girl out of her trance. “Tobin, wait. I gotta order my food.”

“I got your nachos, Kel. Don’t worry.”

“Oh. Thanks, but how’d you know I wanted nachos?”

“You always want nachos.”

Kelley hummed in acknowledgement of the comment. The two stood by the pickup window to wait for their orders. Knowing the wait would take a while, Tobin pulled out her phone and loaded up a virtual soccer game app. Kelley leaned over, chuckling in amusement as she caught sight of her friend’s phone screen.

“What?” Tobin mumbled, starting up a match.

“Honestly, it’s like you don’t get enough soccer with our two-a-days or something,” Kelley responded, shaking her head.

“I like soccer. Sue me.”

Kelley rolled her eyes, pulling out her own phone to scroll through twitter.

“Y’know, I kind of like soccer, too,” a voice stated from Kelley’s right.

The two girls looked up to confirm the source of the familiar voice. Their reactions differed greatly, Kelley’s eyes widening in surprise while Tobin stands there stock still, grip tightening around her phone with the game forgotten.

“Pressy!” Kelley exclaimed, immediately moving to throw herself into the forward’s arms.

“Hey, KO.” Christen chuckled, holding her own as her arms wrapped tightly around the shorter girl’s frame. “I missed you, too.”

“Sorry, it’s just been so  _ long _ ,” Kelley responded, moving off of the girl.

Leaning to the side slightly to look past Kelley, Christen sent Tobin a small smile. “Hey, Tobs.”

“Chris.”

At that point, their orders were called out and while Kelley spoke with Christen, Tobin decided to grab the food to bring back to where Ashlyn was holding their seats.

“I see your friend’s doing better,” someone in front of Tobin said. She looked up, spotting the same girl behind the counter that took her order.

Tobin chuckled slightly, nodding her head. “Yeah, she’s just catching up with our friend Christen. She just got back from a U-19 camp.”

The girl nodded before freezing. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I forgot that Christen goes here,” she said. “I thought I recognized her.”

“You know Christen?” Tobin asked, a look of confusion washing across her face.

“Uh, yeah,” the girl answered. “We met at camp, actually.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah,” the girl laughed lightly. She held out her hand. “I’m Alex.”

Alex. U-19. Tobin froze in her spot. “Wait, Alex as in Alex  _ Morgan _ ? You’re…” She trailed off, her mouth falling open in shock.

“Toby!” she heard from behind her, but she remained still.

It’s no more than a second before Kelley approached the two of them.

“Alex?!” Tobin heard Christen exclaim, immediately moving over the counter to wrap her arms around her friend.

“Hey, Press,” Alex said, chuckling. “Good to see you.”

“No way, you’re Alex Morgan!” That and the volume with which Kelley screamed it was enough to pull Tobin out of her thoughts. “Tobs, it’s Alex Morgan!”

“Kel, I’m standing right next to you. You don’t need to yell,” Tobin said in an exasperated tone.

“But it’s Alex Morgan!” Kelley responded, causing Tobin to wince away from her voice.

“And I still haven’t gotten your name,” Alex finally spoke up, smirking at Kelley, clearly feeling a slight ego boost with how both Tobin and Kelley reacted to her presence.

“Kelley O’Hara, Millington High forward,” Kelley responded, grinning proudly as she held her hand out. Tobin merely chuckled at the introduction, shaking her head.

“Alex Morgan.” Alex shook Kelley’s hand, meeting the girl’s eyes. The two continued to hold each other’s gazes, causing Tobin to stare curiously at the interaction. It was after several moments that Tobin finally cleared her throat, pulling both girls out of their focus on one another.

“Kel, we should get Ash her food before it gets cold,” Tobin stated.

Kelley turned her head to look over at Tobin, nodding her head. She, however, did not fail to glance back at Alex who is now holding out her order of nachos.

“Um, thanks,” Kelley said, a small, shy smile appearing on her face. When she caught sight of the flirty grin Alex seemed to be sending her, her cheeks reddened just slightly. She ducked her head a bit, moving to grab her nachos. She made a move to grab them, but Alex would not let go just yet, stopping Kelley from leaving. She looked up to send the girl across the counter a questioning expression.

“You’re welcome, Kelley O’Hara, Millington High forward,” Alex responded. “I look forward to sharing that field with you on Monday.”

Kelley simply made a hum of acknowledgement, nodding before taking the food from Alex. Meanwhile, Tobin grabbed the two sets of cheese fries and nodded at Alex.

“It was nice meeting you, too, Toby,” Alex added, nodding over at Tobin.

“Oh, uh… It’s Tobin, actually,” she responded. “Nice to meet you, too, Alex.”

“Pressy, you should come sit with us,” Kelley said, using her free hand to tug at Christen’s arm.

“Oh, uh…” Christen trailed off, glancing over at Tobin with an apprehensive look before deciding to agree, anyway. She nodded her head at the suggestion. “Yeah, that sounds good, but I kind of want to catch up with Alex first, if that’s okay?”

“Yeah, sure. We’re way at the other end of the bleachers. Just text me if you can’t find us,” Kelley responded, glancing over at Alex one last time before walking off with Tobin.

Alex seemed to wait a few moments before chuckling lightly.

“What?” Christen asked, raising a brow at her friend.

“What do you mean ‘what’? You didn’t tell me it was  _ that _ bad between you and Tobin,” Alex answered.

A shrug. “I didn’t know that it was,” Christen mumbled in response.

Alex’s face fell slightly at the sight of Christen looking defeated. “Hey,” she gently nudged the girl’s shoulder, “it’ll be fine.”

“But what if it’s not, Lex? What if I made the wrong decision? What if we can’t come back from this summer?”

“Then… Then you have to move on. Sorry, Chris.” Alex reached over the counter to place a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Hey, new girl. There’s no time for breaks. Get those orders out,” a voice from the back of the concession stand called out.

“I have to go, but I’ll come sit with you later, okay? I think I’ll be done with my shift in a half hour or so.”

Christen nodded. “Okay. Wish me luck, I guess.”

“You don’t need it. You’re Christen ‘frickin’ Press,” Alex assured the girl.

“Says Alex ‘fucking’ Morgan,” Christen threw back, chuckling.

“Just go.” Alex playfully shoved Christen away before turning her attention back to the inner workings of the concession stand.

“Aye, aye, cap’n,” Christen said, adding in a mock salute. She laughed before making her way towards where Kelley had mentioned they were sitting. Her smile slowly fell off her face as she thought about having to spend the game in Tobin’s vicinity. She was so distracted by her thoughts that she almost failed to hear the voice calling out to her.

“Christen! Hey, Christen!”

She looked around to find the source of the voice and found herself nearly face to face with a beaming Carli Lloyd, loyal girlfriend Hope Solo standing by her side.

“Oh, hey, Carli,” Christen greeted, leaning forward to give Carli a quick hug. She pulled away, nodding at the keeper. “Hope.”

“Press.”

“I didn’t know you’d be back this weekend,” Carli said.

“Yeah, with the season starting soon, I didn’t really want to stay away from the team and besides, camp was going to be over in a couple of days, anyway. I made sure the coach knew I wanted to practice with my team instead of just showing up during the season.”

“Well, that just makes you an even better athlete than I already thought you were. As one of your captains, I definitely appreciate it, Christen. But just so you know, even if you stayed at camp, we know you are dedicated to this team. You always have been,” Carli responded, smiling at the forward.

“Thanks, cap. That means a lot to me,” Christen replied. A moment of silence passed between the trio. “So, uh… I should head over to Kelley and Tobin. I told them I’d go sit by them.”

“Oh, you’re going to go sit over by Kelley?” Hope finally spoke from her spot beside Carli.

“Yeah, she’s down there with Tobin and Ash, I think.” Christen gestured over her shoulder to the other end of the bleachers.

“Do you mind if we join you guys?” Hope asked, taking both Christen  _ and _ Carli by surprise. “I mean, team bonding, right?”

“Yeah, sure. I don’t think they’d have a problem with it or anything,” Christen agreed while Carli gave Hope a curious look that the keeper seemed to avoid receiving. “Let’s go.”

She led the two girls towards where she believed Kelley would be sitting. A relieved sigh was released as Christen spotted Kelley speaking with Ashlyn. Meanwhile, Tobin spotted the trio, her eyes wide as she nudged Kelley’s arm to gain her attention.

By the time Kelley pays Tobin any attention, Christen has already arrived at their row, a smile on her face as she spotted Ashlyn whose eyes, along with Kelley’s, seemed to be trained on the couple standing behind her.

The blonde finally noticed Christen’s expectant expression and grinned as she stood to wrap the girl up in a hug. “I missed you, Chris. I had to deal with these two knuckleheads all on my own,” she joked, shooting Kelley and Tobin a look past Christen’s shoulder.

Christen laughed, hugging Ashlyn back. “I can only imagine the pain you must’ve gone through to keep these two in line.”

“Hey!” Kelley exclaimed. “We’re not that bad.”

“Yeah, and besides, you had Krieger to help you,” Hope added.

It was hard not to notice the way the blonde’s eyes immediately lit up at the mention of the right back as well as the way her cheeks seemed to flush.

“Hm. Well, you two are still painful to deal with,” Ashlyn mumbled, choosing to sit back down and eat her fries.

As much as Christen wanted to know what seemed to be going on between her favorite keeper and defender, she knew that pushing Ashlyn didn’t normally end well and decided to stay quiet. Instead, she took a seat next to Ashlyn, both in an attempt to avoid sitting next to Tobin and to be able to talk to the blonde more.

She didn’t notice the way Tobin’s eyes seemed to follow her every move and how she seemed to released a relieved breath when she took the spot next to Ashlyn. She also didn’t notice how Hope had taken it upon herself to sit next to Kelley, followed by Carli on her other side. Tobin was left with the choice of sitting next to Christen or asking Ashlyn to scoot over so she could sit on the other side of Kelley. In her mind, the right choice was clear.

“So where is Kriegs, anyway?” Christen asked.

Ashlyn opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by Tobin asking her to move over. “Tobs, there’s a ton of space right there,” she said, pointing to the other side of the row next to Christen.

Tobin grumbled under her breath before moving to take the seat next to Christen, although she made sure to keep several inches between them. Christen tried not to pay it any attention, but that was kind of difficult considering this was probably the closest she’s been to the midfielder in months. Nevertheless, she turned her attention back to Ashlyn as she finally answered her question.

“She’s got family stuff,” Ashlyn said, shrugging. “She said she’d try to make it, but I wouldn’t really be surprised if she didn’t. She’s got a lot of stuff going on right now. We both do.” She paused. “But it’s nice to have her around. Really nice, to be honest. It’s like… like my life sucks less with her in it, you know?”

Christen did know. She knew what it was like to find that one person that made it seem like whatever crap she was going through, it was all worth it because a series of coincidences had brought her to that person. And she would forever have that person. At least she thought she would.

“Chris?” Ashlyn’s questioning voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She managed to shoot the blonde a small, but unconvincing smile. “You okay?”

“Yeah, no. I’m fine. Just tired from the flight and everything,” Christen responded, her effort at a smile dropping from her face.

“Just couldn’t wait to see us, huh?” Ashlyn joked, bumping the forward’s shoulder gently.

“Oh, yeah. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to sleep without seeing your wonderful face, Ashlyn Harris.” Christen rolled her eyes.

“Obviously you needed to refresh the image for your dreams, Pressy.”

“Does Ali know you’re like this with all the girls?” Christen joked, raising a brow.

“Yeah, but she knows I only want her, so.”

“Oh, she does, huh? That explains why she would call me at night freaking out about you and not being able to figure out whether you were into her or not…” The forward trailed off, her eyes shifting up and away from the keeper beside her.

“Wait, she did that?” Ashlyn said, her eyes widening dramatically. “I thought… We talked and… Did she really?”

Christen shrugged before nodding, causing Ashlyn to suddenly shift from a playful mood to a dejected one, slumping forward as she racked her brain in an attempt to figure out whether or not she had actually been explicit with her feelings to Ali.

Meanwhile, Tobin watched from the corner of her eye as Christen reached out to pat the keeper’s back to comfort her. Before she knew it, Christen had looked up and met Tobin’s gaze, the two of them both locking onto one another.

Tobin quickly moved her gaze back to the game their football team was currently losing.

This was going to be a long game.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tobin explains the team dynamics to Alex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look, an update! So I'm not too happy with the way I wrote this chapter, but here it is, anyway. Comments are encouraged, so let me know what y'all think.

The ball caught the back of the net yet again, causing a frustrated Hope Solo to smack her palm against the left goalpost. Kelley saw this and began to walk over to the keeper. However, only a second later, a brunette rushed passed her towards Hope and from her spot on the field, she saw that it was their captain, and Hope’s girlfriend, Carli who had run from midfield to console her.

Kelley only sighed at the sight, already turning to jog back over to get some water. Tobin followed the newly delegated left back to the bench, plopping down beside her as they both rehydrated.

“You okay?” Tobin asked, even though she knew it was a terrible question.

Kelley seemed to pause at the question before shaking her head. “No,” she admitted. “But it’s not so bad anymore.”

“That’s - ” Tobin started to respond when the two heard yelling from one end of the field.

Their heads turned towards the commotion, eyes landing on a fighting Hope Solo and Carli Lloyd.

“Hope, can you not do this right now?” Carli exclaimed, hands shooting up in a clearly angry gesture.

“Carli, just leave me alone,” Hope responded, walking away from the captain.

“Why do you always have to do this?”

“Just fuck off, Lloyd.” Those were the last words they heard before a whistle was blown and Ashlyn subbed in for Hope’s end of the field.

Tobin shifted her gaze from Hope to Kelley, noticing how the girl’s eyes were trained on the retreating keeper. Nudging her shoulder, Tobin said, “Go talk to her.”

Nodding, Kelley stood up and tossed her bottle to the side of the bench, jogging over to Hope who was sat on the other side of the field, having taken a seat on the stairs of the bleachers.

Despite the way Hope had reacted to Carli trying to help her just a few minutes ago, she scooted over to provide room for Kelley to sit beside her. Tobin watched as the two began to converse, wondering exactly what it was they were saying. After a few moments, she felt the need to look away, not wanting to stare them down the way she noticed Carli seemed to be. Becky had walked up to her co-captain at this point, placing a hand on her shoulder in an effort to console the hurt midfielder.

“Tobin?” The midfielder heard a voice say from behind her. She turned around on the bench to face the owner of the voice. Alex.

“Oh, hey, Al. What’s up?” Tobin asked, noting the concerned look on the recently made center forward of the team.

“Are Carli and Hope okay?” Alex asked.

“Uh, I don’t know. Doesn’t seem like it, but they’ve both been going through a rough time recently. They’re both applying for colleges right now, so it might be something to do with that,” Tobin responded, shrugging. “They’ll be okay, though. They usually always are.”

Alex mulled this over, nodding her head slightly in understanding. “And what about Kelley?”

This caught Tobin off guard, causing her to furrow her brows in confusion. “What  _ about _ Kelley?” Tobin threw back.

“Is  _ she _ okay?” Alex asked. It was then that Tobin followed her line of sight, gaze falling right on Hope and Kelley on the other side of the field seated close to one another as Kelley seemed to be trying to get Hope to look at her.

“I don’t think so,” Tobin answered, watching as Kelley’s shoulders fell as the starting keeper refused to look at her. “But I hope she will be.” She turned her attention back to the girl sitting beside her. “Are  _ you _ okay?”

Alex froze before releasing an unconvincing scoff. “Me? Yeah, no. I’m fine. Just been adjusting to being here and everything,” she answered. “But yeah. I’m fine.”

Tobin sighed. It had been made clear in the past two weeks by the way Alex hovered around Kelley that she was interested in the shorter girl. Kelley, however, was so blinded by her own feelings for Hope that, despite the usual blush from Alex’s comments, she couldn’t see Alex trying to send her a message. Though she had noticed all of this, Tobin hadn’t approached the girl with her observations, knowing that it would only result in an extreme denial from the forward. This time, however, she didn’t want to let it go.

“I know we’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks, but you know we’re friends, right? I mean, I know you hang out with Christen a lot because of camp and stuff, but I’m here, too. And I guarantee that whatever you think you’re hiding well... you’re not,” Tobin said.

Alex’s face fell. “Is it really that obvious?”

Tobin chuckled. “Yeah, pretty much since you met her at the football game two weeks ago.”

The forward groaned, head dropping down into her hands. “God, I’m ridiculous, aren’t I?” she mumbled through her hands.

“No, not ridiculous. It’s just a crush, Lex, and it’s not like Kelley’s the worst person to have a crush on,” Tobin said, patting the girl on the back. “Well, aside from her being completely oblivious.”

“Oh god, don’t even get me started on that part,” Alex grumbled, turning her head in her hand so she was facing Tobin. “How does she get straight As without studying at all but be so clueless when I’m clearly being so obvious?”

“She’s just not good with this kind of stuff, I guess.” Tobin shrugged. “She’ll get it at some point. Maybe.” Just as she raised her bottle to take another sip of water, the whistle blew and she groaned quietly before getting up and pulling a quiet Alex off the bench towards the pitch.

* * *

Christen watched Alex approach Tobin and take a seat beside her on the bench, swallowing thickly at the jealousy that rose inside her. Ashlyn saw her from between the posts and moved to jog over to her while the other members of the team were getting themselves organized.

“You really shouldn’t stare, Pressy,” Ashlyn threw out in a semi-joking tone.

“Do you think Tobin’s into Alex?” Christen asked, her eyes not moving from their place on the two girls on the bench.

Ashlyn nearly let out a laugh at the question but held it in in fear of receiving an angry look from the forward. Besides, Christen seemed genuinely worried about Tobin’s interactions with Alex. “Hm…” she trailed off, pretending to think about it as she watched Tobin laugh next to Alex. “No, I don’t think so.” She could see that Alex’s stare was on the player across the field sitting by her fellow keeper, something that Christen seemed to miss when she saw Tobin smiling and laughing at something Alex said.

“But look at them. Alex looks so comfortable around Tobin and Tobin’s laughing and…  _ ugh _ ,” Christen grunted out, angrily kicking a nearby ball. It hit the post, the force of the kick causing it to bounce back toward midfield.

“So I’m guessing you two haven’t had an actual conversation yet,” Ashlyn said.

“You’d be guessing correctly.”

“Maybe you should work on that.” By the way Christen’s head spun around to shoot the blonde a glare, it was clear that that was the wrong thing to say.

Ashlyn gulped, already taking a step back from her.

“I have tried!” Christen exclaimed, causing several other players to look over at them. The forward noticed this and lowered her voice for her next statement. “I’ve tried to talk to her, but every single time I get within 10 feet of her, she either walks away or she starts talking to someone else or she even pulls out her phone so that she can look busy. She doesn’t reply to my texts or answer my calls and she sits on the other side of the room in classes we have together.” The defeated sigh she released made Ashlyn move back closer to her. “I don’t know what else to do, Ash. She doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

Before Ashlyn could speak, the whistle was blown and she simply said, “We can talk later, okay?” before jogging back over to her position between the posts.

Christen nodded and tried not to focus on Tobin grabbing Alex’s hand to pull her off the bench and lead her to the field. Taking a deep breath, the forward refocused her thoughts onto one thing: getting the ball in the goal.

* * *

The rest of practice was surprisingly uneventful. After Kelley spoke with Hope, she had continued with practice after Ashlyn ended up on the receiving end of a particularly hard ball from Christen. The forward had shot her an apologetic look which the blonde waved off. She was helped off the field by Ali whose worried expression was enough to make Christen feel guiltier, but in addition, the right back shot an angry look towards her, knowing that it wasn’t necessary for her to kick as hard as she did.

When the whistle blew to signal the end of practice, Christen was the first one off the field, eager to check up on Ashlyn and apologize. Unfortunately, her efforts to escape were cut off by Alex jogging up next to her before they reached the locker room.

“Chris, hey. Do you want to grab some food with Tobin and I?” Alex asked.

The question threw her off-guard, causing her to stop in her tracks. “You and Tobin are getting food together?”

Alex’s brows furrowed as she nodded slowly. “Yeah, she said she’s taking me to the best pizza place in town,” she answered. “You wanna come?”

“She’s taking you to Daly’s?” Christen responded, her mouth falling open in shock.

“Uh, yeah? I think that’s what the name is,” Alex said. “So is that a yes?”

Christen tried to keep her expression straight as she declined the offer. “No, I should check on Ash, You two go and have fun.” As hard as she tried, she couldn’t filter out all of the bitterness in voice, but before Alex could comment on it, she had already walked away towards the PT room.

The entire conversation confused Alex and this was clear by the way she stood in the middle of the locker room, mouth still half open from the question she was going to ask Christen. She was pulled out of her thoughts when someone bumped into her left shoulder as they walked by. Alex saw that it was a familiar freckled girl and she couldn’t help the smile from plastering itself on her face.

She moved forward quickly to gently tug on the girl’s arm to stop her from continuing to walk. “Hey, Kel,” Alex said.

“Oh, Alex,” Kelley said, turning to face the forward. “Hey.” At the sound of a throat clearing, Alex finally noticed the tall keeper that had been walking beside Kelley.

Alex met Hope’s gaze, the intensity causing her to drop her hand from Kelley’s arm. She shifted her focus back to Kelley. “Are you hungry? Do you want to grab some food or something?” Alex asked nervously, throwing in a small grin to try and sway the girl.

“Um... “ Kelley started, glancing back at Hope beside her for a moment before she turned back to Alex. “Hope and I actually have plans, but maybe another time.”

She tried to keep her face from falling, but she was sure that she failed to do so. It was only for a moment, though, before she plastered on a smile, nodding. “Yeah, sure. No problem,” she said before quickly turning around and walking towards her locker on the other side of the room. Pulling open the metal door, Alex pulled off her shirt to change. Once she put on another shirt, she stuck her head in her locker, letting out a low groan.

A chuckle came from her left, startling her and causing her to smack her head against the side of the locker. A louder pained groan was released as she moved her head out of the metal box. As she turned her head to the side, she saw Tobin who was doubled over in laughter, leaning on the row of lockers as she struggled to stop laughing. Alex looked around the room and spotted several faces looking towards Tobin in concern. She let out a nervous chuckle, waving them off before she gently shoved at Tobin.

“Stop laughing!” she ordered the midfielder, only causing her to continue laughing. “Seriously, cut it out. What if I got a concussion or something?” Alex rubbed at the side of her head.

Tobin managed to cease her laughter, taking a few deep breaths to try and get herself back to normal. “Oh… Oh god, that was so funny,” Tobin sputtered out, pushing back the urge to start laughing once again. She wiped at the corner of her eye, slowing her chuckles before releasing a sigh.

“That was  _ not _ funny. That really hurt, Tobin,” Alex said, shaking her head as she held the side of her head.

“Oh, you’ll be fine. I’m sure you’ve hit headers harder than you hit that wall,” Tobin said, waving off her concerns.

Alex simply rolled her eyes because well, Tobin was right. “Whatever. Still not cool,” she mumbled, packing up her bag and shutting her locker door.

“No, what’s not cool is Kelley pulling Hope away when Carli tried to talk to her after practice,” Tobin responded in a whisper, gesturing to their captain who sat on the bench staring off into space.

“Is she okay?” Alex asked, following Tobin’s gaze.

The two watched as Becky once again walked over to console her fellow captain. This time, however, Carli was barely responding to anything Becky was saying or doing. After several moments, Carli simply stood and walked away from the blonde, leaving her co-captain speechless on the bench. “That would be a no,” Tobin answered, shaking her head. “C’mon, let’s go get some food. I’m starving and I can’t process all this drama on an empty stomach.”

* * *

“Oh my god, this is amazing,” Alex practically moaned out after she took a bite of the pizza Tobin ordered.

Tobin simply hummed in agreement

“So what’s the deal, anyway?” Alex said after swallowing a bite of her pizza.

Tobin raised a brow. “What’s the deal with what?” she responded through a mouthful of pizza.

“Ew, Tobin. Chew and swallow, you animal,” Alex scolded, shaking her head.

Rolling her eyes, Tobin made a point of visibly swallowing before taking a sip of her drink. She responded again, “What’s the deal with what?”

“You know,” Alex said, causing Tobin to look at her questioningly, “what’s the deal with the team?”

This left Tobin even more confused. “I don’t know what you’re asking here, Lex,” the midfielder answered.

“Toby,” Alex whined, pouting at her friend. Tobin grimaced at the nickname. “Seriously.”

“I  _ seriously _ don’t know what you’re asking, Lex,” Tobin replied, wiping off her face and leaning back in her seat with her arms crossed. “I’m going to need you to clarify.”

“I need to know what’s up with the team. Like… who’s friends with who, who doesn’t like who, stuff like that. I want to know who plays well together, so I understand the team chemistry,” Alex explained, rolling her eyes as if Tobin should’ve known exactly what she meant.

Tobin finally made a hum of understanding, nodding her head. She shifted forward in her seat, leaning forward on her arms which had taken their place on the edge of the table.

“Alright, well, who do you want to know about first?” Tobin asked. “I need you to tell me where I should start or who I should start with. There’s a lot of people on our team.”

Alex paused to give this some thought. She made a short hum before swallowing down her current bite of pizza. “Alright, then just start with you.”

“Me?” Alex nodded. “Alright, fine.” Tobin took a sip of her drink before speaking. “Well, I grew up here with Ashlyn and Kelley. Those two are practically like sisters to me and if you ask my mom, Kelley’s mom, and Ashlyn’s grams, they would probably say the same thing. We’ve practically been inseparable since we were babies. When we started playing soccer, it was hard to find a day that we didn’t spend together with practices and matches and everything. So yeah, it was kind of just the three of us for a long time, like we had other friends, but at the end of the day, it was the three of us having a movie night at one of our houses.”

Alex nodded along to Tobin’s words, making it clear that she was paying attention to the story.

“Then middle school came,” Tobin continued. “We were still playing club since they were no middle school teams. That was the year I met Allie. She was in my gym class and well, we were playing soccer. Let’s just say she didn’t play like most middle school girls did, so that’s when I found out that she plays for a different club team. She started hanging out with us, but she was kind of always closer to me than the other girls.” Tobin shrugged. “The next year, Ash met Whit, who played for a club team in the city next us because her dad lives over there. So then it was the five of us, which was pretty cool because we all played soccer and by the time freshman year came around, we knew we were all going to try out for the team and become ‘big soccer stars’.” The midfielder laughed lightly, shaking her head.

“We met most of the team in our freshman year. Carli, Hope and Becky were sophomores and we knew who they were because they made the team the year before as freshmen and Hope and Carli even got to start halfway through the season. Abby and Christie, our captains last year, were juniors and they were both really welcoming during tryouts and pre-season conditioning. So yeah, we were all pretty hyped to be trying out for the team, but only Kelley and I made it. Ash was kind of crushed, like Allie and Whit, but they all made JV and they were arguably the best ones on the team, so I think that helped. They met Moe, who apparently skipped eighth grade, which is why she didn’t have many friends in the freshman class, so she always said she was pretty lucky to find people like Ash, Allie, and Whit who didn’t give her crap for being friends with a bunch of the eighth graders like Sonnett and Lindsey.

“Meanwhile, Kelley and I were hyped as hell to be on the varsity team with all these awesome players. Since there were only four freshmen on the team, we all kind of hung out together, Christen, Kelley, JJ, and I. Christen and JJ grew up together and played for a different club team, so that’s why we never met them. We all got along, which was great for the team chemistry. Honestly, I was kind of surprised that the older girls accepted us so quickly, but it felt nice. Like we were a family and everything. But we still hung out with Ash and Allie and them because, I mean, they were still our classmates and everything, so it’s not like we never saw them just because we were on different teams. Actually, that year we managed to get the coaches to plan more practices and events with both of the teams, so we all actually got to hang out together, like as a big group.” Tobin paused, taking a sip of water considering how long she had been rambling.

Alex looked at her expectantly when the silence went on too long, gesturing with her brows for her to continue. Tobin sighed, chuckling.

“Alright, I guess I’ll keep going. So, uh… sophomore year, last year, we all made the team. Like all four of us and Allie, Ash, Whit, and Moe this time, too. Abby and Christie were captains and it was great. Ali moved here, too, and joined the team and her and Ash just hit it off. I’m pretty sure she’s liked her every since she saw her walk onto the pitch. Like you could see her eyes just kind of go all bug-eyed like in cartoons and stuff.” Tobin chuckled, Alex joining in at the image of Ashlyn doing such a thing. “We all got to bond more and it made us a really cohesive team. It was pretty good, actually, at least until homecoming.” The sigh the midfielder released made Alex pipe up in her seat.

“What happened during homecoming?” Alex asked, leaning forward in curiosity.

“Okay, well, you already know Kelley has feelings for Hope.” The slight drop in Alex’s shoulders answered for her. “That whole thing really started last year. In our freshman year, it was more of a small crush because, I mean, let’s be real here, Hope is hot and probably one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met and that’s just common sense, really. So I think it was more of her being in awe, but we all figured it would go away over the summer, but apparently they ended up hanging out a little bit and the crush kind of grew and snowballed into a full blown thing… So anyway, it was pretty clear that Hope and Carli were close and a couple weeks before homecoming, we all heard rumors that Hope was going to ask Carli to go with her. So we waited for a week for something,  _ anything _ , really, and well… Carli’s not good at being patient so she just went ahead and asked Hope to homecoming and the two have been together ever since.”

“Wow, that’s… well, I can definitely see Carli doing that, honestly,” Alex replied, chuckling lowly once she swallowed her bite. “How’d Kelley take it?”

Tobin smiled sadly at the mention of her friend. “It was… I don’t know. I mean, she was crushed. It was pretty easy to tell it really got to her,” she answered. “She was in love with her, honestly. Still is, I think. And everybody pretty much knows, too, including Hope and Carli. Although, I think Hope more or less denies it, anyway. So after the two of them got together, it kind of… created some tension on the team, especially since Kell didn’t play as well as we knew she could. She had some days where we would scrimmage and she would just… get up in Carli’s space and it just led to some talking to’s and stuff like that, especially from Abby and Cap.”

Tobin grew sad at the memories of how hurt her friend had been by the whole situation, so much so that even Cap and Abby had felt bad for her. “And it didn’t help that Becky didn’t really like Hope, especially not for Carli who she’s been friends with for so long. These days it’s pretty much calmed down. Kelley’s worked through most of the anger. I mean, she still doesn’t like that Hope and Carli are together, but with Hope going off to college next year and college scouts starting to look at Kelley, she doesn’t want to mess up the season with drama like that.” She paused. “That and I think dating Sonnett last year kind of helped her get her head together,” Tobin shrugged. Alex’s brow raised in surprise.

Tobin laughed lightly, nodding. “Yeah, Kell dated Sonnett. Went to homecoming with her and everything, but she broke it off because she felt bad about not liking Emily as much as Emily liked her. So I think having her around to keep her from dwelling too much on it really helped… Em’s over it and at this point she’s like the rest of us: waiting for Kelley to move on. But yeah, now Hope and Carli are fighting and Kelley seems to be taking advantage of that, so I have a feeling something’s going to change soon. Whether on the field or off, something’s gotta give, especially with how Hope tends to be.”

“Wow. The team is… really something,” Alex mumbled, an awkward chuckle escaping her lips.

“It’s… We have an interesting dynamic and well, now I’ve given up way more information about the team than I probably should’ve, but if it helps you play, then who am I to keep this information from you?” Tobin joked, shrugged. “And well, now you at least know what kind of place Kelley is in right now.”

“Wait, so what about Ashlyn? She doesn’t really seem to like Hope either. Is that ‘cause of Kelley or is it a keeper thing?” Alex questioned.

“Uh… Well, it could be both. It’s probably more the Kelley thing than anything since I’ve never known Ash to have any kind of bitter jealousy towards Hope. Yes, she’s a good keeper and Ash envies how good she is, but Ash is a good keeper, too, and she knows that. I just think she doesn’t like how Hope treats the whole Kelley situation. We’re both kind of… protective over Kell, but Ash more so than me,” Tobin responded.

Alex nodded before stating, “Well… I guess I know who I need to get along with if I want to have any chance with Kelley.”

Tobin nodded. “Oh, yeah. Getting on Ash’s good side would be the best place to start for that. It helps with the team, too, since everyone loves Ash,” she said. “But don’t overdo it. You don’t want Ali thinking you’re trying to ‘steal her girl’ or something.”

The forward chuckled slightly, but nodded. She had seen the look the right back shot Christen today and she would do all she could not to end up on the receiving end of a glare like that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> History class ends up bringing more drama than it should.

A sigh escaped her lips as she plopped down in the seat just two seconds before the bell rang.

Alex chuckled at the sight of Tobin in the seat behind her currently taking deep breaths in order to get her bearings. “Nice to see you made it on time today,” Alex joked.

Tobin looked up, narrowing her eyes at the girl. The forward only continued to laugh, drawing Christen’s attention to that side of the room. Her eyes were focused on Tobin who seemed to fighting to keep a smile off her face, the smile eventually winning out.

It physically pained Christen to see that familiar smile on Tobin’s face, especially when it was Alex bringing it out. The scowl on her face was clear, even from across the room, but it was obvious that neither Alex nor Tobin were paying her any attention.

The door swinging open to reveal a panting Kelley O’Hara finally made Christen move her focus away from the girls.

“Ms. O’Hara, glad you could join us today,” the teacher said from the front of the room. Kelley rolled her eyes - the teacher’s focus was currently on the board - before moving over to her desk in the middle of the room. It’s not like she had been late before.

All but three pairs of eyes turned their attention back to the front of the room. Christen, Tobin and Alex’s attention were now on Kelley who seemed to still be attempting to catch her breath in her seat. Christen raised a brow at the freckled girl, to which she received a shake of her head in response.

Unfortunately, Kelley also turned in her seat to provide the same response to Tobin and Alex’s inquisitive expression, drawing Christen’s attention back to the pair. Her gaze lingered as they shot each other a meaningful look as if mentally talking about the possible explanations for Kelley’s current state. It was hard to stop her jaw from clenching in reaction to the sight of the two clearly knowing each other well enough to do such a thing.

With every ounce of internal strength she had, she turned around to face the front of the room again. Throughout the lesson, she did her best to keep her focus on the powerpoint the teacher was reading off of. However, it became increasingly difficult to stop herself from turning around to look at Tobin and Alex who were not-so-discreetly whispering to each other. Christen’s frustration continued to grow as the teacher went on with the lesson, somehow not being bothered by the two girls in the back who hadn’t stopped whispering since Kelley ran into the room.

This was how the rest of the hour went: with Christen tightly clutching the pencil in her hand as she attempted to jot down notes while simultaneously ignoring the ever growing volume of the girls in the back corner. It was all she could do not to breathe an audible sigh of relief when the teacher finally concluded the lesson. The relief didn’t last long when the teacher began talking about a partner project.

Normally, Christen would pair up with Tobin whenever the opportunity presented itself, but that would obviously be a difficult task this time around. Nevertheless, she instinctively turned around in her seat to look back at Tobin, who was occupied by something on her phone. Christen’s shoulders fell, but she stood anyway when the teacher allowed them to find partners. As she stood from her seat, she could see Alex getting up and already walking over to Kelley.

It took Tobin a few moments to notice Christen standing in front of her desk with an expectant expression. A confused look passed across her face at the sight of the forward in front of her.

“Hi?” The word left her mouth slowly, expressing the hesitation she felt about speaking with Christen.

Christen realized that Tobin was absolutely clueless about the partner project. “I was, uh… wondering if you wanted to work together on the project,” she said, a nervous smile on her face as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

“The…” Tobin trailed off, now just noticing what was written on the board about a partner project. “Oh.”

“Yeah. I just figured since we always work together, we could…” Christen started, but was cut off by Tobin’s response.

“Actually, I already, um, have a partner,” Tobin spit out, chuckling awkwardly.

“Oh.” Christen’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You do?”

“Um, yeah,” Tobin said, nodding slowly. “Alex. I’m working with Alex.”

“But I thought Alex was working with Kelley…?”

“Huh?” Tobin finally stood from her seat, eyes landing on Alex shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot as she conversed with Kelley who only smiled up at her.

“Oh, uh… nope. She’s working with me. She just… wanted to go talk to Kelley about… something. I don’t know,” Tobin mumbled, walking over to Alex. Christen followed suit, disbelief still written on her face.

“Lex, we’re working together, right?” Tobin said, raising her brows at the forward who stopped mid-sentence when the two walked over.

“Um, actually, I was thinking Kelley and I...”

Tobin quickly cut Alex off. “But you already said you’d work with me.” The statement came out more as a whine than anything else. The tone of her voice throws the other three girls off, especially Alex who was surprisingly still confused about the situation.

Alex and Tobin continued to stare at each other, the midfielder raising a brow at the forward in an attempt to get her to understand. It took a few more seconds, but Alex finally nodded in understanding, though it’s coupled with a sigh.

“Um… yeah, you’re right. Sorry, Kel,” Alex said, looking at the shorter girl, who only waves her off. She turned her gaze back to Tobin, doing her best to ignore the disappointed look on Christen’s face, and grabbed her arm, pulling her back to their seats.

Christen’s eyes followed them, obviously feeling the hurt from what Tobin just did in order to reject spending any more time with Christen than she needed to.

“Hey.” Christen felt a nudge to her side. She turned to face Kelley. “Partners?” Christen managed a small smile, nodding. The two began talking about choosing a topic and splitting up the work.

Tobin and Alex, however, were not as on task as those two.

“Seriously, Tobin?” Alex asked, twisting her seat around so she was facing Tobin. “What the hell was that?”

“What do you mean?” Tobin responded, though it was obvious exactly what Alex was talking about. Her clueless response caused Alex to shoot her an annoyed look.

“I was already planning on working with Kelley,” Alex mumbled, sighing as she put her head in her hands. Truthfully, she was having trouble with just getting simple words out and hadn’t actually mentioned working together to Kelley, but she was getting there. Probably.

“Does Kelley know that?” Tobin shot back, though it’s clear that she’s partly teasing.

Alex shifted her gaze up to give her another look.

“Good, then you technically didn’t blow her off.”

“That is so not the point, Tobin,” Alex groaned.

“C’mon, Lex. You know I can’t work with…” Tobin trailing off made Alex roll her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. No, I get it. But you know, you weren’t exactly all that subtle about it.”

Tobin sighed, shrugging. “I panicked. Sorry.”

“So now this project…”

And that was all it took to shift their focus to the actual class, especially since they only had around ten minutes left of class.

Meanwhile, Kelley and Christen had already figured out which days of the week they could meet up to work on the project and which house they would be working in, finally deciding on Tuesdays and Thursdays after practice at Kelley’s house. Knowing they had quite a bit of time left, Christen decided to ask Kelley about her late arrival.

“So… you were late today,” Christen stated. Kelley stared at her, clearly annoyed at her for making such an obvious statement.

“Good on you for noticing, Chris,” Kelley replied, rolling her eyes. “And here I was thinking we could go to Stanford together.”

“Kel, you know what I mean,” Christen said. “You’re never late to class and by never, I mean you’re the only person I know that has the closest thing to a perfect attendance record.”

The slight flush of Kelley’s cheeks only made Christen more curious.

“So are you going to tell me where you were running from or…?”

“I met up with Hope before class,” Kelley muttered in response, shrugging as if it was just a casual statement.

“Hope? She has a free period in the morning. Why would she be at school?” Christen questioned.

“She wasn’t.”

“Kelley, please tell me you didn’t skip class to go hang out with Hope.”

She paused before robotically repeating the statement to her friend.

Christen groaned quietly in disapproval, shaking her head. “Seriously, Kel? She’s got you skipping class now?”

“Hey, she didn’t make me skip class. I chose not to go today,” Kelley shot back in defense.

“Exactly.  _ You _ chose to do that, which isn’t something you would do.”

“Maybe it’s time for a change.”

“During junior year?” Christen retorted. “Seriously, Kelley?”

“Look, not that it’s any of your business, but Hope needs someone to be there for her. It’s college season and there’s everything with Carli and she’s stressed and I’m just trying to be there for her, okay?”

“And in the meantime, you’re also hoping she’s going to switch gears and choose you instead,” Christen added, raising a brow at Kelley, almost daring her to challenge the statement.

“Well, is that such a bad thing to hope for? To want?”

Christen couldn’t help the sympathetic expression from crossing her face at the desperation in Kelley’s words. “Kel, you can’t keep doing this.”

“I can do what I want,” Kelley replied defiantly. “You don’t tell me what to do, Chris. You don’t have the right.”

The forward sighed. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I’m trying to get you to see that this isn’t healthy, Kel. This isn’t you. This… All of this Hope crap is turning you into someone you’re going to regret becoming later on.”

“What, like how you let call-ups turn  _ you _ into someone you regret? This isn’t the same thing, Chris, and I sure as hell am not the same as you,” Kelley snapped.

Christen couldn’t help the hurt look that appeared on her face at the girl’s comment, her jaw tightening slightly.

“Chris, I…”

“No, it’s fine.”

“It’s not fine.”

“It’s  _ fine _ , Kelley.”

Kelley opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the bell. By then, Christen had already flown out of her seat and was down the hall before she even got a sound out.

The forward’s quick escape drew the attention of Alex and Tobin who were slowly starting to get up. Both their gazes shifted from the door to Kelley who was currently sporting a guilty expression.

Alex already began moving forward to Kelley, but Tobin held her arm out to stop her. “I’ll see you at lunch, Lex,” Tobin said. Alex hesitated before nodding and walking out of the room, leaving Tobin and Kelley alone aside from the teacher.

Approaching Kelley, Tobin twisted to look around her at the teacher who was leveling them with a look that questioned their presence in the room. Tobin rolled her eyes before grabbing Kelley’s arm and pulling her outside.

She didn’t speak until she had successfully pulled the shorter girl into an empty part of the hallway. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until they stopped that Kelley roughly pulled her arm out of Tobin’s grasp.

“What the hell is your problem, Tobs?!” Kelley exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Me? What the hell did you do to Christen?” Tobin shot back.

“Oh, so  _ now _ you care about her.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“What do you think it means? You’ve been doing everything you can to ignore her and  _ now _ her feelings are suddenly important to you.”

“Just tell me what you did, Kelley.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You know you can’t lie to me, Kel.”

“I’m not lying!”

“Kelley!” Tobin practically shouted at the shorter girl, causing her to flinch in her spot.

“I just… She was telling me Hope was changing me and then trying to tell me what to do and I said some things,” Kelley explained, mumbling under her breath. If the hallway wasn’t empty, Tobin would’ve asked her to repeat herself.

“What things?”

No response.

“Kelley, what things?!” Tobin demanded, now having invaded the girl’s personal space.

“I said something about call-ups changing her into someone she regrets and how I’m not like her,” she finally answered.

Tobin’s face fell at her words. She ran her hand down her face in frustration, shaking her head. “Kel, you… you shouldn’t have said that.”

“What’s the big deal? It’s not like it’s not the truth. She screwed with you, Tobin. That’s not something that someone who claims to love you would do.”

“You still shouldn’t have said it, Kelley.”

“And why the hell not?!” Kelley responded, an incredulous tone to her voice. “Tobin, you can’t keep acting like she didn’t do anything wrong. I know you keep trying to justify her actions so that we won’t hate her for what she did to you, but she deserves it!”

“No, she doesn’t. She just… It was all too much for her. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Oh, yeah. Of course not. She never does anything wrong according to you.” Kelley scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You know, Tobs, it’s obvious you still love her, but god, loving her does not mean you can’t admit that she did something wrong. That’s not how it works.”

“And I’m just supposed to take your advice when it comes to loving someone because, what, you’ve been really successful at it?”

“My feelings for Hope have nothing to do with this.”

“They have  _ everything _ to do with this! You wouldn’t have blown up at Christen if she hadn’t been telling you the truth about what Hope is doing to you!”

“Look, I know you and Chris and even Ash love the idea that you know what’s best for me, but  _ none _ of you are my parents, so stop fucking acting like you are.” Those were the last words said before Kelley turned around and walked away, unable to deal with the conversation.

Tobin did nothing but stand there and watch her leave. She was slumped against a row of lockers at this point, hand running through her hair as she calmed herself down. Finally noticing the time, she realized she needed to meet Alex at lunch and made her way to the cafeteria.

* * *

Tobin quickly spotted Alex at a table with Hope, Ashlyn, Ali, Whitney, Moe, JJ, Carli, and Emily. As she headed over with her tray of supposedly edible food, she met JJ’s concerned gaze. Tobin shrugged as she sat down across from the blonde defender, in between Alex and Ashlyn. JJ only shook her head before sliding her phone over to Tobin. Looking down at the screen, Tobin read the messages between her and Christen.

 

> _ Pressy: heading home. don’t feel well _
> 
> _ JJ: you ok? :( _
> 
> _ Pressy: no but i will be _
> 
> _ JJ: do you want me to come over after practice? _
> 
> _ Pressy: no i need to be alone _
> 
> _ JJ: ok just tell me if you change your mind _
> 
> _ Pressy: ok _

 

Tobin gave JJ her phone back, avoiding both Alex and Ashlyn’s questioning looks. Instead, she turned her attention to picking at the food in her tray, suddenly not having an appetite for anything anymore.

Ali managed to redirect Ashlyn’s attention back to her, but unfortunately, there was no one to distract Alex.

The forward nudged Tobin’s arm. “You okay?” she asked, twisting around to make Tobin look at her.

Tobin nodded, though she obviously wasn’t.

“Where’s Kelley?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Tobin noticed Hope look up at the mention of the girl’s name. Clearly she had been wondering the same thing.

Tobin just shrugged at the question.

“But didn’t you talk to her after class? Did she say she was going somewhere?” Alex continued to ask, clearly not understanding that Tobin didn’t want to talk about it. Meanwhile, she could feel a certain keeper’s gaze boring into her and she tried her best to ignore it.

“I don’t know where she is, Alex. Just drop it, alright?”

Alex’s mouth shut in response. She muttered under breath as she turned her attention back her food. Just then, a noticeable ping of a cell phone sounded, followed by a mumbled ‘I have to go’ from Hope, and at least half of the table knew without hesitation that that was probably Kelley.

“Well, there’s your answer, Lex,” Tobin said. “Wherever Hope’s going, that’s where Kelley is.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's game day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm updating a day later than normal. I hadn't finished chapter 5 yet and I really really want to stay a chapter ahead when it comes to writing and updating, so I didn't update until today. However, chapter 5 is finished and chapter 6 has basically been outlined to completion, so it shouldn't be too difficult to write. Enjoy and let me know what y'all think!

The shrill ringing sound of her phone caused her to groan loudly in protest. Despite her mind telling her to roll over, ignore the call, and go back to sleep, she knew she had to pick it up in case it was actually important. Her hand reached out to her dresser, picking up her phone and answering the call before pressing the device to her ear.

“IT’S GAME DAY!” was yelled into the phone, causing her to wince and pull it away from her ear.

“Jeez, Lex. Did you really have to yell so loud?” Tobin grumbled, rubbing her eyes as she let out a yawn.

_ “Well, you’re awake now, aren’t you?” _ Alex shot back, clearly amused at Tobin’s grumpiness.

“Either way I think I’m deaf in one ear now.”

_ “Oh, please. Stop being so dramatic.” _

“I will when you stop being annoying.”

_ “You know you love me.” _

“I’ve only known you for a month. I’m surprised I’ve managed to learn your name.”

_ “Actually, you knew me before that. You know, since you stalked me on social media and everything.” _

Tobin’s face flushed. She knew she shouldn’t have told Alex about how she would like nearly all of her instragram photos.

“I knew I shouldn’t have told you that. And thanks for reminding me. I have to unfollow you on everything now that I actually know you and seeing you more than I really have to is just annoying.”

The midfielder could almost hear the pout on the other end of the phone as Alex spoke.  _ “That’s just mean. I thought you liked my face.” _

“Aww, did I hurt the superstar’s feelings?” Tobin teased, chuckling.

_ “Yep, so now you don’t get to have the bagel I bought you.” _

Tobin’s face fell. “Wait, what? You didn’t tell me food was involved.”

_ “Oh, now you’re interested.” _

“Yes, very interested. I’m sorry. Your face is great, Alex. I swear by it. I won’t unfollow you on social media, I promise.”

_ “Mhm. I don’t know if that apology is good enough for a bagel.” _

“C’mon, Lex. Please?” The small pout appeared on her face before she could stop it and Alex could clearly picture it on Tobin’s face.

_ “We’ll see how I feel when I get to your house,” _ Alex replied.  _ “Which is in about… 10 minutes, so you better be ready.” _

“Yes, ma’am,” Tobin said, saluting even though Alex couldn’t actually see her. She swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Just come up when you get here. The door’s unlocked.”

_ “You should really stop leaving your door unlocked. That’s just not safe.” _

“Alex, you’ve been here a month. Nothing happens in this town.” Putting the phone on speaker, she tossed it on her bed before moving over to her closet.

_ “Still, something could happen.” _

Tobin sighed. They’ve had this conversation before.

“Lex, don’t worry about me, alright? I’ll be fine. I can protect myself.”

_ “I’m good at worrying, Tobin. You know this.” _

“I know, I know. I also know you should get off your phone so you can get here already,” she responded, changing into a pair of joggers and one of her extra jerseys.

_ “So impatient. Good thing I got you some coffee, too.” _

Tobin grinned, picking up her phone after she pulled her snapback on. “I knew being friends with you would be good for something.”

_ “And I knew being friends with you would mean a lot less money in my wallet.” _

Tobin paused. “Well, that’s because you never let me pay you back, Lex.”

_ “Because you never let  _ me  _ pay  _ you _ back.” _

“Because I don’t want you to.”

_ “And I don’t want you to either, so we should leave it at that.” _

“Sure. Whatever.”

_ “Tobin…” _

“What?”

_ “We’re leaving it at that.” _ Tobin heard a car pull up outside, heading over to her window to see Alex get out of her car.

“Mhm, if you say so.”

There was groan of frustration in response and Tobin quickly grabbed her backpack, stuffing in the papers and notebooks she might need for the day. Her bedroom door opened and she looked up to see Alex walk in, one hand clutching a paper bag while the other held the phone to her ear.

The forward narrowed her eyes at Tobin, ending the call. “Tobin, you are not paying me back for this. Or the other day. Just like you don’t want me to pay you back for Daly’s that first time and the other times,” Alex stated matter-of-factly.

At this, Tobin only chuckled in response.

“Toby,” Tobin winced at the nickname, “seriously, please don’t. I’m just going to feel bad.”

The two stared at one another before the midfielder finally gave in. She raised her hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. We’ll leave it at that,” she relented.

Alex continued to stare at her, trying to find any hint of deception in her face. Presumably finding none, she held out the bag to Tobin who took it gratefully and peered inside at her food, the satisfied hum that left her lips enough of a sign of appreciation.

“And your coffee’s in the car, so we should get going before it gets cold.”

The two walked out of Tobin’s room and bounded down the stairs, Tobin already having taken two large bites out of the bagel Alex brought her.

“Maybe I should’ve brought you two of those,” Alex joked as they headed out of the house, Tobin locking the door behind them after a look from the forward.

Rolling her eyes, Tobin responded, “This is my breakfast and we have a game today. I’m surprised you didn’t know me well enough to know that I could eat about a dozen of these right now.”

They eventually hopped into Alex’s light blue beamer, Tobin making sure to return the cup back to the holder after taking a sip. With Alex driving, there was no way she wouldn’t spill the drink on herself if she held it.

Alex stepped on the gas pedal, speeding them out of Tobin’s driveway and down the street towards the school.

* * *

Throughout the day, Tobin lacked the self-control to hold back her excited energy for the game. In every class, she would sit in her seat impatiently, tapping her pencil on her desk and bouncing her leg as her eyes would dart back and forth between the teacher and the clock. Even during lunch, she barely ate her food and instead spent the period walking around the school to try and use up some of her extra energy.

It was hard for Christen not to notice considering the midfielder was in two of her classes. The entire time it was difficult for her to focus on the lesson occurring in the front of the room when Tobin was so jittery on the other side of the room. For some reason, it didn’t seem to capture anyone else’s attention but Christen’s. Perhaps that could’ve been related back to the fact that in the past years Christen would be the one to calm Tobin down, but it was clear that she would not be playing that role anytime soon.

So instead she watched as Tobin continued to tap her fingers and her pencil on the desk, creating a relatively rhythmic beat as her foot bounced in anticipation for the coming game. She wished more than anything she had the opportunity to grab the girl’s hand and run her thumb across the back of it to try and soothe her nerves. Unfortunately, she was left to watch as Alex, of all people, attempted to calm down Tobin with what she assumed to be some jokes considering how wide Tobin would smile when the forward would say something.

It was hard not to notice the way the two had grown close so quickly, though Christen knew she was partly at fault for that. In the past two weeks, she had done nothing short of avoiding hanging out with Alex. She knew it was jealousy that kept her from acting better towards her friend, but there was no way she would admit that. After all, she wasn’t Tobin’s girlfriend and she had no say in whatever could possibly be forming between Tobin and Alex.

So when the two walked into class together, after seeing them get out of Alex’s car together that morning, she said nothing. Although, she could do nothing to prevent the slight frown that appeared on her face at the sight. Ashlyn had noticed this morning, of course, but before she could comment on it, Christen had already turned and walked away, wanting to avoid any possible interaction with Alex and Tobin when she clearly couldn’t handle her own feelings.

It took every ounce of willpower inside her to not follow Tobin out of the lunchroom when she got up and Ashlyn even had to place a hand on her shoulder to keep her seated despite knowing how much she wanted to go calm down the midfielder.

“Sorry, Chris, but you might make it worse,” Ashlyn said, shrugging.

“What do you mean by that?” Christen responded, narrowing her eyes at the blonde.

“Well, it’s pretty obvious that you put her on edge when you’re around her.”

“I know how to calm her down, Ash. I’ve been doing it for years.”

“Yeah, but we both know it’s not the same anymore.”

The statement caused Christen’s shoulders to slump in disappointment. “I know, but…”

“But it sucks, yeah,” Ashlyn finished. She gave the forward’s shoulder a gentle reassuring squeeze. “Just give it time, Chris. At least you’re not the ones graduating this year.” The blonde gestured to Hope and Carli sitting on opposite ends of the table, pointedly avoiding eye contact with one another, though their captain kept glancing over at the freckled girl that kept trying to make their number one keeper laugh.

Christen smiled sadly at the sight, nodding. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” she said. “Is there anything new there?”

Ashlyn shrugged. “All I know is they’ve been ‘on a break’ since Hope blew up at Carli last month.”

“I can’t believe it’s been a month. It’s so weird to see them like this, like they were never friends or something.”

“Yeah, and I love Kelley, but she knows she’s making it worse and she just keeps doing what she’s doing,” Ashlyn mumbled, shaking her head.

“Maybe… this’ll help her get it out of her system.”

“Hopefully.” Ashlyn sighed. “She deserves better.”

Christen simply hummed in agreement before deciding to change the subject.

“So,” she said, “you ready for the game?”

Ashlyn chuckled. “I’m always ready, Chris. You know this.”

* * *

It was time.

The locker room was relatively quiet, only the opening and closing of locker doors making any kind of noise. Everybody was getting themselves in game mode, either by constantly checking the laces on their cleats or listening to their music.

Tobin and Alex got ready alongside one another, though they didn’t speak either. Tobin was too busy taking deep breaths on the bench as she drowned out her thoughts with the music from her phone. Meanwhile, Alex was taking care to fix her pink pre-wrap upon her head, something that Tobin had jokingly teased her about earlier in the day.

Coach had already told them who was starting today before they walked into the locker room. Alex knew she wouldn’t be starting, but she was definitely playing today, especially considering the chemistry she had with Tobin out on the pitch. She was excited, but also nervous, which Tobin had also teased her about considering she had played on the youth national teams for so long. But it was different. This was a new environment, a new school, a relatively new group to play with despite the month she had had to get to know the team. She had something to prove as the new kid, especially considering the schools she hoped to play for in the future.

Tobin looked up at Alex who was slowly pacing in front of her, moving to grab her hand to stop her in her movements. The midfielder stood, pulling out her earphones and placing her hands on Alex’s shoulders. “You’re going to be fine,” she said. “Just breathe, Lex.”

Alex found herself calming down at Tobin’s words, nodding her head as she offered her a thankful smile.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s gather around for a few minutes. Your captains have a few words to say,” Coach said, gathering everybody’s attention.

The team collected around the two captains, their game faces already on as they stood in a circle.

“Okay, girls. I just want to say that I’m incredibly proud of all the work you’ve all done in the past month. I know you’ve all been working hard and training hard from what I can see in practice. Now all we have to do is take all of that and bring it out there on the field,” Becky said. “I know it’s just a scrimmage, but it’s our only game before we start the season with our rivals, Charton High, so we need to start strong, alright? I know all of you are capable of being the best out there, so don’t doubt yourselves. Once you’re out on that field, it’s all about what happens on there.” The blonde turned to look over at her co-captain who remained silent, but who had nodded along, anyway. She nudged her gently and Carli snapped out of the daze she was in and clapped her hands together.

“Becky’s right. If you bring everything you’ve got onto the field, at the end of the day, we’ll be proud because you left it all out there,” Carli said. “Let’s do this!”

The girls followed with a cheer and less than five minutes later, they were lining up to walk out on the field, Carli at the front of the line with Hope behind her, the rest of the starters following. They all stood for the national anthem, gazes focused on the flag held up by members of the school’s ROTC program. Following that, the starters dispersed on the pitch, the speaking captains heading over for the coin toss.

After winning the coin toss, Carli headed back over to the team, calling the starters in for a huddle. “Alright, everyone. Like Becky said inside, you all have the ability to be the best out here. Coach is going to use today to work with the lineup, so do what you can with the time you’ve got. We believe in all of you,” she said before her voice increased for their chant. “Now who are we?!”

“Mustangs!”

“What are we gonna do?!”

“Play hard! Play smart! Play together!”

They piled their hands together in the middle of the circle.

“1, 2, 3, fight!”

The starters took their positions. Hope took her place between the posts with Ali, JJ, Becky, and Whitney as her starting backline. Tobin, Carli, Morgan, and Allie took their place as the mids while Christen and Mallory took their place by the ball.

They all took a deep breath, waiting for the whistle to begin. Ali found Ashlyn’s gaze on the sideline, smiling at the blonde, while Tobin found Alex. The midfielder winked at the forward before the whistle blew and the game began. Unfortunately, Christen noticed this and it caused her to tense just slightly.

Luckily, she was paying enough attention to get a touch on the ball as Mallory kicked it over to her. She brought it back to Tobin before moving up the field, trying to stay ahead of her but staying in front their opponent’s backline. After being called offsides so many times the previous season, she had become more cognizant of where the opposing team’s backline was in order to avoid a similar situation this season.

It took 15 minutes off back and forth possession between the teams before Tobin found an opening to slot the ball over to Christen. The forward, who had been having some trouble getting a good first touch on the ball in the first 10 minutes of the game, had surprisingly caught on well to what Tobin was doing and quickly broke away from the defenders, resulting in a 1v1 situation with the goalie. In an attempt to shoot it into the upper 90, Christen overshot slightly, causing the ball to hit the crossbar and bounce back. Thankfully, Carli had gotten there just in time to slam the ball past the keeper. The ball hitting the back of the net was like music to their ears as the team celebrated the first goal of the season made by none other than their captain, Carli Lloyd. While Christen was disappointed about hitting the bar, she ran over to join the team in their celebration, anyway, wrapping her arms around her teammates and cheering.

They returned to their positions, the opposing team beginning with the ball this time. Somehow they managed to make it past the defenders and their striker’s attempt to curl it into the upper 90 was stopped by a high jumping Solo who punched the ball out for a corner kick. They took their places in the box, determined to clear the ball as soon as possible and they did just that, Ali heading the ball away from the goal. 

Morgan quickly got behind the ball, making her way upfield before passing it to Allie. Allie got the ball past the defender on her and towards Mallory. Unfortunately, two defenders attempted to get the ball from Mallory and the forward was forced to kick it back to Morgan. With the opposing team pressuring them back, Morgan sent the ball back to JJ who brought it back to Hope so the keeper could clear it across the field.

Carli managed to get a head on it, sending it over to Tobin, who as usual had the smoothest touch on the ball. As a classic Tobin move, she nutmegged the defender before passing the ball over to Christen, who once again shot at the goal, only to end up shooting wide of the post. The groan of frustration that she released was audible to those nearby but she calmed herself down before jogging back over to her position.

Before the opposing team’s goal kick, Alex was subbed in for Mallory. The forward jogged onto the field and took her position after giving the freshman a high-five for her performance. Now in most cases, putting forwards like Christen and Alex together would practically make the team unstoppable. Unfortunately in this case, the smile Tobin and Alex shared caused Christen to feel a slight jealousy that was likely to affect her already weak game.

Nevertheless, play continued and the two teams battled it out for possession until another breakaway put Christen up in the box again. For the third time, though, she did not score as her touch was too weak on the ball and the opposing team’s keeper easily stopped the ball. It was easy to see that the forward was frustrated with her performance. It got to the point where Tobin would pass a ball to a relatively open Christen, but the forward would lose her touch on the ball and have it easily stolen by one of the defenders. At the one point, she had tried to kick it back to Morgan, but her aim was off and it ended up being a pass to the opposing team’s striker. Thankfully, their backline along with Hope worked hard to defend against the offense, pressuring her to take a bad shot to Hope’s easily accessible right side where the keeper caught it with ease.

The teams battled for possession until halftime. With the team up 1-0, they returned to the locker rooms for water and a break. Becky and Carli gathered the team once again. “You’ve all been playing great. There are a few things that need to be touched up, but that’s understandable considering this is the first time some of you have been playing at this level and with this team. Coach has the subs laid out for the second half. Remember that we’re using this game to figure out exactly how to work the roster, so we’re going to get all of the players in that we can.”

The rest of their break was spent just trying to catch their breath or thinking about how to proceed with the next half. Hope seemed to be having a relatively intense conversation with their coach as she was gesturing wildly with her hands and the coach seemed to be telling Hope to keep her voice down. Once the conversation was over, Hope’s shoulders slumped in defeat and she made her way over to the bench in front of her locker. Kelley immediately moved towards her, taking a seat beside her and wrapping an arm around the taller girl.

Hope couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face at Kelley’s touch and she wrapped her own arm around the smaller girl’s shoulders as they began to talk and joke around like normal. The sight caused Carli to almost growl in frustration. Despite having scored the only goal in the game, she hadn’t been able to get another past the keeper in the first half either. The defenders were constantly on her and she had been fouled twice in the first half, though the ref had only really counted one of them. She knew that Kelley was subbing in for Whitney and Ashlyn was subbing in for Hope, meaning that the keeper was going to be watching the rest of the game from the sidelines. She also knew Kelley was basically going to be behind her for the rest of the game, likely trying to impress Hope or something with her slide tackles and clearances. As immature of a thought it was, she knew she needed to step up her own game. If this was going to be a battle for Hope’s attention, she would win it.

Meanwhile, the coach was heading over to Christen to tell her that she was being subbed out for Jessie because they wanted the freshman to get playing time and get a feel for playing with the team. Christen only nodded in understanding, knowing that she hadn’t played as well as she usually did in the first half.

When the team returned to the field for the second half, Kelley had paused at the sidelines to give Hope a hug and a reassuring grin to which Hope replied a rare smile of her own before she took her position in their backline. The second half began the same way the first half did, with possession moving back and forth between the teams.

But at the 55th minute, Tobin had gotten the ball passed to her by Morgan and she ran it up the side of the pitch until she saw Carli and passed the ball over to her. The captain continued to move past defenders until it was her and the keeper. Her touch on the ball was smooth and powerful as she shot it past the keeper who was off her line. However, a defender had come out of nowhere and ran behind her keeper to head the ball out of the goal, and Carli looked on frustrated. The next part might have been her imagination but she could swear she saw the defender smirking at her and it only proceeded to add to the already growing frustration inside her.

The opposing team ended up counter-attacking, but their striker was stopped with a slide tackle from Kelley, one that the other team tried to argue should be a yellow card. However, the referee wasn’t having it and instead issued a caution to Kelley who simply shrugged. The defender caught the eye of a certain keeper on the sideline and she grinned proudly, once again causing Hope to chuckle as she shook her head at the girl.

Carli could only look on in jealousy. Once the whistle blew, however, she pushed her thoughts back onto the game, her moves becoming more aggressive as Tobin and her worked to get the ball up to the goal or to a forward. The captain passed it over to Jessie whose shot was blocked by the keeper. Unfortunately, the keeper could not keep her hold on the ball and Alex was there to slam the loose ball into the back of the net at the 65th minute.

The team immediately cheered as Alex ran with her arms outstretched in a classic Alex Morgan goal celebration. Tobin was the first one to her, wrapping her arms around the forward and even lifting her slightly off the ground. Christen could only look on from the sidelines, though she managed to release a few half-hearted cheers with the rest of her team. The other players on the pitch swarmed Alex and congratulated her on her first goal with the team, except for Ashlyn who simply shot her a thumbs up from between the posts.

With that goal, they were up 2-0 and Alex felt great. Once she stepped onto the field earlier, the nerves were gone and she focused her energy on one of the most important things in her life: soccer. She was truly in her element.

The next five minutes, however, were probably the most eventful of the game. The opposing team was obviously frustrated at the lack of goals they had scored compared to the goals that had been scored against them. They began to play the ball more aggressively, inconspicuously pushing and shoving opposing players for the ball. One was issued a yellow card after a dangerous slide tackle against Jessie outside the box.

Fortunately she was okay to continue playing but the card seemed to just rile up the opposing team even more. And it reached a dangerous point. Carli had just gotten her touch on the ball when she felt a large body collide into her with a dangerous force. She landed on the ground with a thud, her side throbbing in pain as the referee blew the whistle. Tobin had jogged over to help her up, though she regretted it when their captain immediately stood and made her way over to the player who tackled her.

“What the hell is your problem?!” she shouted, aggressively shoving the player back. “Do you even know how to play soccer?”

Luckily, Tobin had reacted quickly enough to stop Carli from doing anymore damage. After the referee issued the opposing player a yellow card, she did the same with Carli who was clearly ready to challenge it.

“Alright, let’s go,” Tobin said, walking the captain off of the field. “You need to calm down, Carli. Get some ice on your side and breathe, alright?” She gave the older girl a small pat on the back before jogging back to her position. Carli took a deep breath before taking her captain band off and handing it over to Becky. She jogged straight off the field after, passing Lindsey who was subbing in for her. Her feet took her straight to the bench where their trainer tended to her side. The anger on her face was clear as she stared out on the field. It also kept her from noticing the concerned gaze of a keeper that had been trained on her since she fell.

Play resumed and the opposing team had finally calmed down the aggression after the incident. After several saves from both keepers, the game was down to it’s last minutes of stoppage time. Allie had the ball and was looking for an open forward up top but just couldn’t get it up there. Instead she passed it to Tobin, who quickly moved around her defender and ran up to pass the ball over to Alex. As the forward received the ball, she quickly made her toward the goal. With a defender coming towards her, she paused to in her spot to take shot.

Her foot collided with the ball, sending it flying toward the keeper. It was almost a repeat of Christen’s shots from the beginning of the game.

_ Almost _ .

The ball curled up and over an outstretched keeper, hitting the back of the net with just a little less than a minute of stoppage time left.

Alex celebrated another goal with the team, running quickly to Tobin and wrapping her arms tightly around her friend.

“Nice shot, superstar,” Tobin said, grinning at the girl wrapped in her arms.

“Nice assist, hotshot,” Alex retorted, chuckling before the team went to play the last minute of the game.

They end with a clean sheet and three goals to start off the season. The team immediately celebrated on the sidelines after shaking hands with the referees and congratulating the other team on a good game.

Kelley found Hope, who congratulated her on her first game as a defender. Carli was nowhere to be found and with the way Hope and Kelley were acting around one another, that was probably a good thing.

Tobin and Alex were both congratulated by various members of the team for both Tobin’s assist and Alex’s two goals. Christen was the last to approach the two, her congratulations met with a small appreciative smile from Tobin and a somewhat awkward hug from Alex.

Once the whole team was gathered in the locker room, their coaches congratulated them on a job well done. Kelley then took the opportunity to invite the team to her house for a post-game dinner/celebration.

“Hey, everyone. Great job today. I want to invite you all for a post-game dinner over at my house. Pizza will be provided as well as movies. I think it’d be a really great chance to celebrate our awesome win today with two goals from  _ the _ Alex Morgan and a goal from captain Carli Lloyd. New kids, ask around for rides. Most people here already know where I live so that shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll see y’all around 8, I guess,” Kelley said, stepping down from the bench that she had gotten on at one point with help from Hope who held onto her as she hopped down.

Carli watched on helplessly from the corner of the room as the two left together, likely headed over to Kelley’s house already.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team heads over to Kelley's to celebrate. The night is surprisingly uneventful for the most part. At least, it starts off that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I thought I would make up for last week by posting a day early this week. That, and this is more of a filler chapter than anything, but some stuff does happen. Hope y'all enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Pulling up in front of the house, the keeper shut off the pick-up and got out. She moved around to the other side to hold open the passenger door for her freckled friend.

“You know you didn’t have to run that light, Hope,” Kelley commented as she stepped out of the vehicle.

“I didn’t run it. It was yellow when I was past the line,” Hope responded, shrugging.

“Sure, whatever you say,” Kelley replied teasingly, causing both of them to share a laugh as they walked into Kelley’s house.

“I’m never going to get over your mansion of a house, Kel,” the keeper said in awe.

“It’s just a house,” the defender shrugged. “Different from a home.”

Hope patted her shoulder gently. “So… where are they this time?” she asked, referring to Kelley’s parents.

“Somewhere in Europe. They were in Portugal a couple of days ago, then Spain, then France… so I’m assuming they’re probably in Italy by now,” Kelley answered.

“Well, good for me then, I guess,” Hope joked, nudging the girl’s shoulder.

“Oh, yeah. About that. Where does your family think you’re staying?” Kelley asked.

“What do you mean?”

“What’d you tell your mom and your brother?”

“That I was staying with you until your parents got back…?” Hope responded. “Was I not supposed to tell them that?”

“No, I just… I mean, yeah, that’s fine that you told them that. I just… didn’t know if you were going to tell them you were here,” Kelley mumbled, shrugging.

“Kel, you’re one of my best friends and let’s be real, both mom and Marcus love you more than they love me. They’re not going to mind me keeping your company.” Hope chuckled.

“Oh. That’s good. I’m glad,” Kelley said. She moved to wrap her arms around Hope. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad I’m here, too, tiny,” Hope said, hugging the girl back. “Now come on. We gotta get everything together before the girls get here.”

“Sounds good.” Kelley pulled away from the taller girl. “I’ll order the pizza and you can get everything out. The girls should be here in, like, ten minutes.”

“Alright, good plan.”

The two set off to do their own separate tasks, Kelley ordering about 8 boxes of pizza for what she knew would be a hungry team and Hope going around the kitchen and grabbing everything they needed for the night.

The originally quiet and empty home filled with noise as the team began to arrive. It took about ten minutes, like Kelley said, for the girls to show up. It was Ashlyn and Ali at the door first, followed by Christen and JJ. Behind them was Alex, Tobin, and Allie followed by Mallory and Jessie who were ushered forward into the home by Moe, Lindsey, and Emily. It was another ten minutes before Becky showed up at the door, a silent Carli in tow.

They mostly scattered around the kitchen and the living room, striking up their own conversations with one another. Alex and Tobin had started up a conversation with Ashlyn and Ali in the kitchen as Hope comfortably moved around them to grab everything they would need for food.

“Hey, Hope. Have you seen my Stanford sweatshirt?” A freshly showered Kelley asked as she walked into the kitchen, still drying her hair with a towel.

“Top drawer of your dresser,” Hope replied without hesitation as she continued to flit about the state of the art kitchen, leaving the other four girls in the room confused.

Kelley stood frozen by the doorway of the kitchen, staring at the four girls who were looking at her questioningly. “T-Thanks,” she stuttered out before she practically fled the room.

Tobin and Ashlyn shared a look after seeing Kelley escape from the room. It was clear they both wanted to confront the girl about exactly what just happened and why Hope, of all people, would know where Kelley’s clothes are.

Ali bumped her shoulder gently against Ashlyn, shaking her head. The blonde tried to argue back with the expression on her face, but Ali wouldn’t budge. She clearly didn’t want Ashlyn to keep trying to meddle in Kelley’s business. A defeated sigh came from Ashlyn and she mumbled under breath before leaving the room with Ali right behind her.

“Hey, Hope,” Tobin spoke, getting the keeper’s attention. Glancing at Alex for a moment, she saw the forward shaking her head, trying to deter her from asking questions she might not want the answer to.

Tobin ignored her.

“Yeah?” Hope responded, raising a brow at the midfielder.

She hesitated before choosing her next words carefully. She could address the situation directly or she could build up to it. Choosing the latter, she knew that she needed to let Hope become comfortable with speaking to her before she even attempted to ask about the situation with Kelley and Carli.

Alex was against addressing the entire situation altogether, at least for tonight.

“Do you need some help with all that?” Tobin asked, gesturing to everything she had laid out on the table.

“Oh.” The question had caught the keeper off guard, which was a rare sight. She composed herself quickly, though. “Uh, yeah. Sure. We can set it all up downstairs.”

Tobin nodded and began gathering items to bring to the basement.

“Alex,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder for the forward to follow her.

The two walked down the stairs, items in hand, with Hope following carefully behind them. Tobin set the items down on the ping pong table that was more often used as a table than to actually play and Alex followed her motions. Hope brought the rest of the items to rest on the bar counter.

“Thanks, guys. Really appreciate it,” Hope said, moving behind the bar to grab a water bottle from the bar fridge. “You two want a drink or something?”

“Yeah, sure,” Tobin said, answering for both her and Alex as the girl was too busy walking around the basement in awe.

Both Tobin and Hope’s eyes landed on the forward, a chuckle escaping them both as they remembered their responses the first time they saw the basement.

“I was like that, too, when I first saw this place,” Hope told Tobin, pulling out two more water bottles for her and Alex.

“Yeah, but at least you weren’t six and tiny. Everything felt like it was made for giants when I first saw this place,” Tobin joked.

Alex caught the back end of her statement as she had finally circled around the room, chuckling along with Hope. “Thanks,” she said, taking one of the water bottles. “This place is awesome.”

Tobin laughed, nodding. “Yeah, it’s pretty great. That, and Kelley’s parents being gone most of the time is really nice,” she said, not noticing how Hope had tensed up for a moment behind the bar.

“Yeah, and that home theater is  _ amazing _ ,” Alex gushed.

“Wait until we use it and you get to experience the sound system,” Tobin added.

Hope opened her mouth to say something but paused, hearing footsteps make their way down the stairs.

“Hey, Hope. The pizzas are here, but I can’t find any cash for tip,” Kelley said, sending a small smile to Tobin and Alex sitting at the counter.

The keeper released a dramatic sigh. “Alright, well, I’ve got some cash hidden in the bottom of my drawer,” she said.

If either girl was surprised about the statement, they didn’t show it. Kelley simply nodded slowly, her eyes trained on Tobin and Alex as she hurried back up the stairs. Alex and Tobin shared a curious look about Hope having a drawer at Kelley’s house, but knew that asking questions might not end well.

Tobin opened her mouth to say something when more footsteps were heard rushing down the stairs. At the head of the group was Kelley and Ashlyn carrying the multiple pizzas, followed by the rest of the team that was still chattering about whatever.

“Pizza’s here,” Kelley announced as her and Ashlyn set down the boxes across the ping pong table.

She grabbed two plates and filled them both with a couple of slices before carrying them over to Hope who was passing out drinks behind the bar. Hope gave her a small smile in thanks before taking the plate from the smaller girl. Kelley gestured over to the two chairs in the back row of their home theatre and Hope nodded in response.

Carli had been led to the pizza by Becky, who continued to try and keep conversation with her. However, Carli remained silent as her gaze was focused on Hope who was helping out their other teammates with getting drinks. When Kelley finally walked away from the bar, Carli saw her opportunity to speak with her ex(?)-girlfriend and quickly walked away from Becky who stopped speaking mid-sentence.

“Hey,” Carli said, giving Hope a small smile as she stood in front of the bar.

Hope looked up from behind the counter and at the sight of Carli, she couldn’t help the loving smile that spread across her face. It only took a moment for it to drop slightly, causing Carli’s shoulders to drop just a bit.

“Hi,” Hope replied. “Want a drink?”

“Uh,” Carli started, “yeah, sure. Can you get me a-”

She was cut off by Hope moving to squat behind the counter. The keeper sorted through the drinks before grabbing the one she was looking for. She stood back up, handing the Dr. Pepper can to Carli.

Carli couldn’t stop the small grin from appearing on her face. “You remembered.” The words are mumbled under her breath, but Hope heard her nonetheless.

“Remembered that you like the grossest soda known to man?” Hope retorted. The hurt was apparent on Carli’s face until she realized that the keeper was giving her a joking smile.

Rolling her eyes, Carli opened the can and took a sip of her drink.

“It tastes good. You’re just too picky,” Carli said, shrugging.

“It tastes like cold medicine, Carls,” Hope reasoned.

“Then it’s really  _ good _ cold medicine, Hope,” Carli responded.

The two stood in silence for a bit, the awkwardness starting to settle in despite how normal their interaction had been just moments ago.

“How’s your side?” Hope asked. “You went down pretty hard.”

“It’s fine,” Carli answered. “I’ll probably just be a little bruised for a couple of days.”

“That girl should’ve gotten a red for what she did.”

“It’s soccer, Hope. People get hurt. Things happen.”

“But she did it on purpose, Carls. She just rammed straight into you like it was football or something,” Hope continued, her voice beginning to rise. Carli reacted on instinct and held out a hand to place on the keeper’s arm to calm her down.

Both of their gazes shifted to Hope’s arm. “Hope,” Carli said, trying to get the taller girl to look at her.

Hope met her gaze, a curious look on her face. “What?”

“It  _ is _ football,” Carli responded, followed a small grin appearing on her face.

The keeper shot her a look, but it didn’t last long before the two of them were chuckling together.

As their laughter died down, the two of them continued to stare into each other’s eyes, both of them searching for something from the other. Carli’s grip on her arm had tightened just slightly, as if she was no longer afraid of touching the girl.

“Hey, Hope. Can you set up the… movie?” Kelley asked, ruining the moment and causing Hope to quickly stand straight and pull her arm out of Carli’s grasp. The defender eyed the two curiously, knowing exactly what she did.

“Don’t you live here, Kelley? Shouldn’t you know how to do that yourself?” Carli bit out, obviously annoyed at the way the defender had just appeared.

Kelley shrugged. “Yeah, but Hope knows all the settings better,” she answered before walking back to take her seat.

Hope sighed, trying to offer Carli an apologetic smile. The captain would’ve returned the smile, but Hope had already moved from behind the bar and towards the home theater. 

“Movie’s set up!” Kelley announced, causing everyone to file into the home theater. Nearly half the team, mostly the younger players, ended up on the floor in front of the seats because there simply weren’t enough seats for everybody. There were two rows of five reclining seats, the back row a step higher than the front. The large projector currently displayed the menu screen for the movie they were about to watch as the team settled into their seats with their food and drinks.

Carli followed Becky, her eyes immediately landing on Hope and Kelley who had taken seats in the back corner of the room and were conversing quietly with each other. Her co-captain led her to two available seats in the front row, which were unfortunately right in front of Hope and Kelley. Becky shot her an apologetic look and suggested they sit on the floor on the other side of the room, but Carli waved her off and took a seat, anyway.

Alex had decided to avoid that entire situation and let Tobin lead her to the other side of the room, sitting in a seat between Tobin and Allie, who she had grown relatively close with over the past couple of months. The three carried on a conversation about whatever topic Tobin would bring up, doing her best to distract her friend from Kelley and distracting herself from even glancing in Christen’s direction.

Christen had decided to join JJ and Moe on the ground along with Lindsey, Emily, Mallory, and Jessie. She was currently telling them about being on the youth national team and describing her teammates. Moe seemed to be the most amused when she heard of the antics of Christen’s teammate, Kling. The youngest players, Jessie and Mallory, were the most in awe of her experiences, both hoping to be in her situation in the next year or so and Christen had no doubt that the two would make it.

Meanwhile, in the other back corner of the room, Ali was wrapped up in Ashlyn’s arms with Whitney next to them, gushing about how cute the two were. Ashlyn tried to ignore her friend, but the reddening of her cheeks made it clear that her comments were affecting her. Ali continued to snuggle into her side as Whitney made comment after comment and Ashlyn, slightly annoyed by her friend’s excitement, shot the blonde a look causing her to quiet down as Hope finally started the movie.

Many of them had seen it before, but it had become a tradition to watch the movie,  _ She’s the Man _ , after the first game every year, started by Christie and Abby in their first year as captains.

The team mostly remained quiet, with a few comments and cheers being made every now and then. However, there were two voices that never seemed to completely disappear during the movie. Kelley and Hope had taken it upon themselves to have a whispered conversation throughout the entire film.

Carli was trying her hardest not to listen, especially with Becky doing her best to distract her friend from the two, but it was difficult when they were right behind her. She didn’t even have to turn around to know that Kelley was currently leaning against Hope with the keeper’s arm wrapped around her shoulder, holding her close. 

She rolled her eyes as she thought about how they weren’t as quiet as they thought they were being. She only caught a few words, but she was able to come to the conclusion that Kelley’s parents were away on a trip and Hope had been staying with her while they were gone. The thought of the two alone in a house together, especially with Kelley’s touchy-feely personality, caused her stomach to drop as her imagination ran wild with the images of the two sharing a room and a bed. The rest of the movie was spent trying to focus on the movie and Becky’s comments in an attempt to keep her thoughts from making her feel even worse.

At the other end of the row, Alex had somehow found herself snuggled into Tobin. It had happened halfway through the movie when exhaustion had finally caught up to her and she leaned her head on Tobin’s shoulder. The midfielder had shifted to accommodate her better and it somehow resulted in her leaning back against Tobin with the girl’s arms wrapped around her. She was so comfortable that she managed not to feel the burning gaze of Christen whose attention had shifted from the movie and towards the two of them.

The two had also caught the attention of Ashlyn, who narrowed her eyes at the pair curiously. She looked between Christen and the two girls, internally shaking her head at her friends and the obvious lack of communication between them.

The end of the movie caused the room to erupt in cheers before the regular chatter ensued among the teammates. Kelley moved to let Hope deal with the projector and other electronics. Carli watched the keeper move about the room, turning off certain machines and changing settings back and she couldn’t help but be annoyed with the way Hope moved so easily around the room as if she lived there. Then the thought that  _ well,  yes she  _ did  _ currently live there _ appeared in her head and she was once again hit with a feeling of dejection.

A clapping off hands got the group’s attention somehow and all eyes turned to Whitney. The blonde grinned.

“As much as another movie sounds great, I think we should play a game instead,” she suggested.

This piqued the curiosity of the other players.

“What kind of game exactly?” Ashlyn asked, her head turned to look at Whitney above Ali’s head.

“We should play something so we can get to know the new kids,” Kelley said, her gaze landing on Alex across the room, “and so they can get to know us.”

There was a murmur of agreement before Whitney finally spoke again. “Never have I ever?” she asked, brows raised in question as she looked around the room.

Another murmur of agreement ensued throughout the room.

The girls moved out of the home theater to sit in a circle in a more open part of Kelley’s basement. They decided to play it with non-alcoholic drinks for the night considering they never drank during the season. Hope moved to grab drinks for everybody, passing them out around the circle before taking her own seat beside Kelley.

Looking up, she saw that she was sat right across from Carli and she already knew it was going to be an eventful night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team plays ‘Never Have I Ever’. Does this game ever end well?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a short chapter. Sorry about that. It's kind of more or less a filler chapter, too? I think things really kind of go down in the next chapter, but it definitely needed this chapter to get to the point they're at in the next one. Hope you enjoy and as always, let me know what you think!

The girls were sat in a circle, opening their drinks now to keep from drawing attention later on in the game. Hope and Kelley were sat across from their two captains, Becky and Carli. On Carli’s left were the younger kids, Mallory, Jessie, Lindsey, Emily, and Moe. Followed by Julie and Christen, who was on Kelley’s right. On Hope’s left were Whitney, Ali, and Ashlyn. Tobin was on Ashlyn’s other side, followed by Alex and Allie, who was on Becky’s right.

“Alright, so who wants to start?” Whitney asked, looking around the circle.

“Why don’t you start since you suggested the game?” Ashlyn responded, shrugging.

“Nah, it’s fine. I’ll go,” Kelley said. She paused for a moment, tapping her chin in thought. Hope watched her with an amused expression, a hint of a small smile appearing on her face. “Okay! I got one. Never have I ever failed a test.” Her gaze had landed on the keeper next to her as she pointedly shot her a grin while Hope chuckled and rolled her eyes before taking a sip of her drink.

Along with Hope, Carli, Alex, Tobin, Ashlyn, Moe, Allie, JJ, Whitney, and Lindsey took a sip of their drinks. Hope piped up then with the statement: “Never Have I Ever Gotten Straight A’s for an entire year.” She then pointedly stared at Kelley as the freckled girl responded almost the exact same way as Hope had, with a light chuckle and a roll of her eyes before taking a sip of her drink.

Across the circle, Carli had grown annoyed at the way Hope and Kelley were currently acting around one another. She couldn’t help the hurt she felt at the way the keeper was practically flirting with the defender right in front of her, especially since they weren’t completely broken up. At least, she didn’t think they were considering Hope had simply asked for a break and some space. Neither had clarified what this meant for the two of them regarding relationships with other people, but she assumed that those were off limits.

Unsurprisingly, Christen, Becky, and Emily all took a sip of their drinks as well. When Alex took a sip of her drink, Tobin turned her head to give the girl an impressed look.

“Didn’t realize you were a genius, too, superstar,” Tobin joked, nudging the forward’s shoulder. Alex simply rolled her eyes at the mid’s reaction, shoving her gently as she tried to keep from smiling at her.

This interaction did not go unseen by Christen on the other side of the circle along with Ashlyn who was right beside Tobin. Ali noticed where the blonde was looking and tugged at her shirt, shaking her head as she continued to snuggle into Ashlyn’s side.

“God, you two are boring with all this school stuff,” Moe groaned. “How about… never have I ever gotten a speeding ticket.”

Everybody except for Moe, Mallory, Becky, Ali, and JJ drink. Kelley and Hope rolled their eyes at Moe’s statement considering a speeding ticket wasn’t really all that exciting either.

“I would just like to say that I was only going six miles over the speeding limit and the cop was a total douche about it,” Allie commented, causing Tobin to chuckle as she shook her head.

“Harry, you got annoyed and called him Frannie,” Tobin said.

“That’s because I thought his name tag said Fran, not _Frank_ , and he was being a total douche about it. There were people 10 miles over the limit, but he busts me instead,” Allie complained.

“Yeah, yeah. Just be lucky it was only for speeding,” Tobin responded. “Would’ve been for assault of a police officer if I hadn’t been there.”

“I wasn’t gonna _hit_ him, Harry,” Allie said defiantly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Tobin rolled her eyes at the statement. “ _Sure_ you weren’t.”

Emily then spoke up, wanting to get the focus back on the game and not Allie’s driving habits. “Never have I ever scored a hat trick,” she tried.

Carli, Tobin, Alex, Christen, Mallory, Jessie, and Kelley all took a sip of their drinks, which made sense considering they had all been either forwards or attacking mids throughout their soccer careers.

Under her breath, Kelley mumbled a joking thought that appeared in her head, “Never have I ever scored with a girl.” It was loud enough that Hope could hear her, causing her to laugh.

“What are you laughing about?” Ashlyn asked, brow raised in curiosity.

Hope, still lightly chuckling, nudged Kelley in an attempt to get her to repeat her statement. Kelley huffed, crossing her arms and shaking her head.

“Come on,” Hope urged, continuing to nudge at the defender.

Kelley sighed before she finally repeated herself, this time, at a more audible level, “Never have I ever scored with a girl.”

Ashlyn, Tobin, Hope and Carli took a drink. Christen almost managed to sneak a sip, but Ali and JJ noticed, causing the two raise their brows and plan to ask about it later. Kelley also noticed but doesn’t acknowledge it, not wanting to interfere in that situation after what happened the previous month. Emily chuckled before taking a noticeable sip, causing almost everyone in the group to raise their brows curiously at the younger girl while, Moe, Ashlyn, and Tobin were looking on approvingly.

“Okay, how about ‘never have I ever kissed a girl’?” Lindsey said.

Everyone in the circle but Lindsey, Mallory, Becky, JJ, Jessie, and Moe took a sip.

Both Tobin and Kelley stared at Alex curiously, though the forward seemed to be avoiding both of their gazes. The two were genuinely surprised to find out that Alex had kissed a girl, despite the fact that Tobin knew about her crush on Kelley. In all honesty, she figured that Kelley had been her first girl crush and that was why she had been so awkward about acting on it. Nevertheless, neither of them say anything as they turn their attention back to the circle.

The other members of the group were now staring pointedly at Allie and Whitney as nobody really knew who they could’ve kissed. Allie pointed at Tobin who laughs and shrugs while Whitney looked over at Ashlyn, who ducked her head as a sheepish grin appeared on her face.

Ali, who at this point had been leaning back into Ashlyn, turned her head to look questioningly at the blonde. The keeper just shrugged. “It was, like, in middle school. And it was like barely more than a peck, really. We just both wanted to know what it was like to kiss someone,” she mumbled out the story. Nodding, Ali turned her head back to face the group but said nothing. Ashlyn’s shoulders fell but she knew that now was not the time to try and have that conversation with Ali.

Tobin caught the conversation and moved to pat Ashlyn’s shoulder gently in reassurance. After a few moments, she turned her attention back to the circle, waiting for someone to go next.

“Never have I ever kissed someone on this team,” Becky said, truly curious as to who would drink.

Everyone except for Becky, Moe, JJ, Mallory, Jessie, and Lindsey drink. Becky raised a brow when Christen drank, glancing quickly between her and Tobin.

Meanwhile, Tobin was looking curiously at Alex, who pointedly avoided all eye contact. Christen was wide-eyed as Tobin gaze stayed focused on Alex. She knew exactly why Alex had drank and unfortunately, Tobin probably would soon know as well.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about Tobin finding out about what happened, though she was sure that the mid was bound to find out at some point considering how close her and Alex were becoming. It wasn’t until she noticed Becky looking at her that she moved her gaze back to no particular member of the circle. It was one thing for one of her captains to know about the situation between her and Tobin, but it was another for her to actually see how Alex, the newest member of the team, was involved in it.

So many people had been so caught up in their own thoughts and their own drama that they were caught off guard by Mallory speaking.

“Never have I ever been in love,” the freshman forward said.

It was easy to see that a number of them were taken aback by the statement. Sure, it was obvious for some who would be taking a sip, but that didn’t mean they knew all of the people who would do so.

Hope, Carli, and Kelley took sips of their drinks. The mid couldn’t help but look at Hope and their gazes met, both their expressions softening at the feeling of the connection they had with one another. Unfortunately, Kelley noticed this. Her hand tightened around her can and the sound of the tin crackling slightly in her grip was audible to everyone in the room.

Christen and Tobin also sipped from their soda cans, Tobin trying her best to avoid even looking in Christen’s direction, while the forward could do nothing to stop herself from letting her gaze train itself on Tobin.

Becky also drank, but everybody expected her to after her relationship with Matt, a senior last year who had graduated. The two were very much in love, but had decided that it would be easier to end it instead of struggle through the distance at a time when they both weren’t completely sure what they wanted out of their futures.

Lastly, Ashlyn took a sip, but she attempted to be less conspicuous about it due to the girl that was currently wrapped up in her arms. While this wasn’t exactly news for anybody else on the team considering they could see how she acted whenever Ali was around, the defender had been more or less clueless about how strong Ashlyn’s feelings were for her. The last thing the keeper wanted to do was to admit her feelings and have Ali feel pressured to say the words back, so she tried her best to hide it. However, Ali noticed her drink but continued to stay silent.

The tension among the group was beginning to get a bit overwhelming, so Jessie decided to cut it with another statement.

“Never have I ever been ejected from a game,” Jessie added.

Tobin, Hope, and Kelley took a drink.

Alex looked over at Kelley and quickly deduced that that must have been from the previous year, when she was trying to deal with her feelings for Hope and the dejection she felt from seeing the keeper with Carli. In Kelley’s mind, the memory was clear as day. She had ended up slide tackling a girl out of frustration, but ended up getting more leg at the end of cleat than ball, resulting in a twisted ankle for the unfortunate victim of the attack and a second yellow card for her, resulting in a red and ejecting her from the game. It wasn’t her proudest moment, but it was definitely a memorable one. It was a moment she used to bring herself back to some semblance of sanity and to get her focus back on what was really important, which was soccer.

Meanwhile, Carli stared at Hope, both of them internally recounting the day Hope had been ejected from the game. To this day, Carli felt guilty about the entire situation considering she was the reason Hope had ended up getting a red card. She had been down on the ground after an opposing player tackled her from behind, causing a twisted ankle and a shoulder dislocation that resulted from how hard she had hit the ground. The mid remembered crying out in pain, barely able to hear how Hope had begun to yell at the player and basically started a fight with her. The fight had apparently consisted of Hope shoving the player back multiple times before finally taking her down to the ground when the player shoved back. The ref immediately ended the fight as Carli was helped up by the trainer after fixing her shoulder and Hope ended up walking off the field with her then girlfriend after being issued a red. The only good part about that day was that the opposing player received her second yellow and was also escorted off the field by her coach.

Seeing Tobin lost in her thoughts, Alex had nudged at her shoulder gently. “What happened to you?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” Tobin replied, a confused expression on her face.

“When you got ejected,” Alex clarified. “What happened?”

At the question, Tobin chuckled and shrugged. “I was having a bad day. My crosses were terrible, I just couldn’t get the right touch on the ball. I got aggressive and shoved a girl down trying to get the ball from her and when the ref called the foul, I picked up the ball and slammed it into the ground, pretty much like a touchdown,” Tobin explained, shaking her head at her actions that day. “Not my proudest moment, especially with the conversation I had with coach after it.”

Alex nodded in understanding, giving the girl a small smile.

“Never have I ever been injured,” Lindsey said, finally cutting through the relative silence that had washed over the group.

Everyone in the circle but Lindsey drank, causing the mid to roll her eyes.

Tobin held up her cup and tipped it over to show that it was empty. The game was basically over after the next round when most of the older players aside from the defenders, barring Kelley, finished their drinks. The rest of the team just chugged down the rest of their drinks or decided to leave them unfinished.

A new tension had appeared in the room as a result of the game.

Luckily, Mallory and Jessie were provided an escape route from the predictable drama that was about to ensue when Mallory’s dad arrived to pick the two up. They made their way to leave after making sure to say goodbye to the teammate’s left in the main area of the basement.

Ali had pretty much remained radio silent since Ashlyn had admitted to kissing Whitney back in middle school The blonde had been waiting impatiently for the game to end so that the two could finally talk. Seeing her chance, she dragged her out to the patio in the backyard to give them some privacy for their conversation.

Meanwhile, Christen watched as Tobin stood and helped Alex up before pulling her aside, likely towards an empty room in the basement. She already knew what their conversation was going to be about and it caused her nerves to increase tenfold. Taking a few deep breaths, she calmed herself down and decided to join the other players who had wrangled up a deck of cards and were beginning to play a game.

Becky and Carli were engrossed in a conversation when Hope approached, asking Carli to talk. Becky, of course, shook her head in the negative, but Carli ignored her and instead followed Hope to an empty room. She wasn’t quite sure what the keeper would want to talk to her about, but any chance to talk with Hope without Kelley around was a chance she was going to take.

Only a few feet from Becky, Kelley saw the interaction and when she noticed the roll of Becky’s eyes, she mimicked it. In her mind, this wasn’t supposed to be how the night went. She wanted Hope to stay, but if her situation with Carli was fixed by the time the two finished their conversation, then Kelley would be sleeping alone that night. And that was the last thing she wanted to happen.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions are answered, for better or for worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry this chapter's so late! Like i said I like to keep a chapter ahead so that I can easily give you all updates and I just hadn't had much time to finish chapter 8 this week, so I'm posting this chapter late. Also, I have been thinking of changing update days to maybe Fridays but that's not a given, so I guess you'll find out next update. We'll see. Anyway, hope y'all like this chapter and as always, tell me what you think.

Wordlessly following Hope, she let the keeper lead her through the halls towards a spare bedroom of the basement. A million thoughts were racing through her mind as the two walked in silence. They stepped inside the room, Carli first with Hope following behind her. 

The door shut behind the keeper, but still neither spoke. The silence was deafening, awkward and unnerving, a large contrast from the comfortable and content silences they used to share. As the silence continued, Carli grew annoyed at the lack of communication from the very person who had asked her to come in the first place.

Carli stared at Hope as the taller girl just stood silently by the door, shoulders hunched and head bowed. If the mid could see the girl’s face, she would have seen the conflicted expression that took over, the obvious struggle she was having with forming words. But she couldn’t see Hope’s face and that only served to irritate her more.

“Are you going to talk or are you just going to stand there and waste my time?” Carli snapped, arms folded across her chest as she kept her gaze focused on Hope.

The keeper’s head finally tilted up and her eyes met Carli’s.

“So now I’m a waste of time to you?” Hope wasn’t able to push back the retort that left her lips.

Judging by the look that appeared on the captain’s face, that wasn’t the best thing she could have said.

Arms falling down to her sides, Carli felt her anger take over. “Are you being serious right now?!” she shouted.

Hope flinched at the tone of her voice, leaning back slightly from the girl but remaining silent. She wouldn’t fight this, not after what she had been putting Carli through for the past couple of months. She deserved what Carli threw at her.

“Don’t you  _ dare _ bring this back around to me! Have you even looked at yourself? At what you’ve been doing for the past two months? If anything, it looks like I’ve been wasting all the time you could’ve been spending with your precious fucking Kelley,” she bitterly drawled out.

Unfortunately, the topic of Kelley didn’t fall into the category of things Hope would let Carli throw at her. The topic of Kelley was just a general restriction that was put on most conversations shared between Carli and Hope.

“Don’t start with that again. She has nothing to do with this,” Hope responded, voice low and threatening in warning.

Carli released a disbelieving scoff, rolling her eyes.

“You still can’t see it, can you?” Carli said. “You’re so damn clueless when it comes to her and  _ god _ , Hope, it is so damn tiring.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Carli.”

“See?! You refuse to acknowledge this entire thing and it’s so damn infuriating to see you this fucking blind!”

Hope’s hands were beginning to clench into fists by her sides, the anger chipping away at her composure with every word Carli shouted. “What are you talking about?” she responded, seemingly confused which only served to piss Carli off even more.

“Dammit, Hope! You can’t actually be this stupid!” Carli responded in exasperation, throwing her hands up in the air.

The keeper’s jaw tightened slightly. “ _ Don’t _ call me that.”

“What else am I supposed to call you?” Carli asked. “It’s true. You’re so damn stupid when it comes to this Kelley shit and it’s not even endearing anymore or cute or funny or whatever the fuck I used to call it. It’s just  _ stupid _ .”

“I said not to call me that!” Hope shouted back, Carli’s words continuing to feed the fire in her eyes. “I’m not stupid!”

“Well, you haven’t exactly been acting  _ smart _ for a while now.”

“Just because I dumped you doesn’t mean I haven’t been acting smart,” Hope threw out.

Her words hit Carli hard, causing the captain to pause. The hurt expression on her face only lasted for a moment before it was replaced with a stoic expression.

“You’re right. But the fact that you haven’t taken the opportunity to be with the obvious love of your life, Kelley fucking O’Hara, does mean that.” Her voice was flat, as if stating a fact rather than a sentence that was formed out of bitterness.

“Kelley is my  _ friend _ , Carli. She has been and always will be my friend and it’s not my fault you could never get past your goddamn jealousy to just enjoy being with me,” Hope responded.

Rolling her eyes, Carli said, “You act like you didn’t give me a reason to be jealous.”

Hope looked confused. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Oh,  _ come on _ , Hope. You two drop everything for each other. Hell, you’ve dropped me a shit ton of times to help her out. At first I thought maybe it’s because she was a new kid on the team and, I don’t know, maybe you finally felt like taking on that mentor role or something. But it was getting ridiculous, Hope. God, all of the late night calls? The constant touching when the two of you were around one another. I might be in mid, but that doesn’t mean I never look back at you and your backline. It was hard not to be jealous when you kept pulling shit like that.”

“You mean it was hard to trust me.”

The statement threw Carli off and she shot the keeper a disbelieving look.

“Hope, I trust you with my  _ life _ .” She paused. “I trusted you with my heart.”

Hope stood there, obviously affected by her ex-girlfriend’s words.

“I trusted you with everything, but it’s hard to keep loving someone who wouldn’t hesitate to go to someone else, someone who so clearly was also head over heels for them.” Carli’s voice was shaky, making it obvious how hard she was working to keep the tears at bay.

Unsurprisingly, the keeper in front of her was trying to do the same thing. If there was anything in this world she absolutely hated, it was her own ability to hurt those she loved, those she cared about the most. Seeing Carli standing in front of her, eyes shut tightly, body slightly hunched over with her arms wrapped around herself, broke her heart.

She stepped forward, finally moving from her spot by the door. It was only four or five steps before she ended up standing in front of Carli. A small moment of hesitation preceded the movement of her hand towards the mid’s face. Her hand landed softly upon the girl’s cheek, causing Carli to stiffen at the touch, the past two months without that very touch causing her to find it foreign. However, it was only another moment or two before she visibly relaxed into it, Hope moving just a bit closer to the girl.

Her thumb gently stroked Carli’s cheek in an attempt of comfort. A stray tear escaped, which Hope immediately wiped away. It was only another moment before Carli let herself go, allowing the tears to fall from her eyes as Hope did her best to calm her down.

She pulled the girl into a tight hold, hand cradling the captain’s head as she tried to hush the girl’s cries. However, she didn’t say anything, knowing that there were things she couldn’t say, promises she couldn’t make.

It took a few minutes for Carli’s tears to subside and she was left breathing heavily and deeply as she struggled to regain her composure. Pulling back slightly, Hope met her gaze and gave her a small reassuring smile. She pushed back Carli’s hair behind her ear, leaning down to press soft kiss to Carli’s forehead.

At this point, Carli had completely relaxed into Hope’s hold, her body missing the familiar warmth encompassing it. She missed this so much, to the point where she wasn’t sure if she would actually be okay with letting go. But she knew she would have to. They weren’t together anymore - not at the moment, at least - and she needed to keep that in mind.

But from the second Carli’s gaze met Hope’s, that thought was thrown out of her mind and the only thing she could conjure up was how much she wanted to kiss the keeper. Hope seemed to have the same thought as her eyes were visibly shifting back and forth between Carli’s own pair and the captain’s lips. Unable to take the waiting, Carli leaned up, her hand coming up to cup Hope’s cheek as she pulled her into a soft kiss.

It was a kiss similar to the many others they had shared. Soft, passionate, gentle. But it was also full of fear, hesitancy. Judging by Hope’s unresponsive nature, Carli moved to pull back from the girl, but it was then that Hope’s hold on her tightened and she kissed her back.

The spark they had always felt between them seemed to have been reignited as the two’s lips fervently pressed against each other’s. Carli’s hand had to move to tangle themselves in Hope’s hair, firmly gripping the keeper’s head as she tried to pour every ounce of emotion she felt into that one kiss. Hope had pulled Carli flush against, her hands tight on the mid’s hips as she returned with the undeniable love she felt towards the girl.

Not even two minutes later, their kiss has turned into a full-blown make out session. Their holds were tighter and lips pressed harder against one another. Carli had walked backwards towards the bed, pulling Hope along as the keeper removed her lips from Carli’s, instead choosing to shift her focus to the mid’s neck. She placed light kisses along her captain’s jawline before she decided she would rather spend her time nipping at the girl’s neck.

Carli felt the back of her knees hit the bed, letting herself fall back onto it. She scooted up slightly before pulling Hope down over her. Their lips connected once again, but there was a new sense of urgency behind Carli’s movements. Her hands were splayed across her back, tugging her just a bit closer as Hope hovered over Carli, her body leaning on her forearms that found their place by Carli’s head.

The captain’s hands move down Hope’s sides, landing on her hips. Her thumbs slipped just barely under Hope’s shirt, rubbing at the skin there. The keeper was too busy focusing on feeling Carli’s lips against her own, drawing out quiet little moans, to notice. It wasn’t until Carli’s hands fully slid under Hope’s shirt, the warmth of Hope’s body radiating under hands, that the keeper suddenly froze.

She stopped in her actions, pulling away from the kiss and staring down at Carli incredulously, as if she couldn’t believe exactly what it was she had just done. Her mouth fell open in shock as she then removed herself quickly from above her ex-girlfriend and off the bed. Hand immediately finding its way to the back of her neck, she rubbed at the skin there, shaking her head as her eyes shut tightly. Carli, still confused about what just happened, remained on the bed, leaning back on her arms as she stared up at Hope.

“Hope…” she trailed off.

The standing girl remained silent, but her eyes had finally opened and her gaze focused on Carli. Even from that distance, Carli could see the fear in her eyes, the hurt, the sadness.

“I… I’m sorry.” Carli stood. “I’m sorry I got carried away.” She stepped towards Hope, but the keeper stepped back, shaking her head. “Hope, I… I didn’t mean for that to happen. I’m sorry. That was… After two months, that was too much. I get it.”

Hope just continued to shake her head Carli’s words.

“We don’t have to… I just missed you and it felt so nice. We don’t have to do anything. We can just… We can talk. About this, about us,” Carli explained, a small smile coming to her face.

“No, Carli,” Hope finally responded after several moments of silence. “No, that… we shouldn’t have done that.  _ I _ shouldn’t have done that. We can’t… This can’t happen right now. We can’t do this.”

The hurt was apparent on Carli’s face as her entire body visibly deflated at Hope’s words.

“We’re on a break and -” Hope began again only to be cut off by Carli.

“Yeah, but not because I wanted us to be,” she threw in only for Hope to continue speaking.

“I still need to figure things out.”

Carli felt her jaw tighten at the statement.

“So what was that out there? When you said you’d fallen in love?” Carli asked, arms crossing over her chest. It could be taken as a sign of annoyance, but it was noticeably a gesture the girl was using to seemingly keep herself together. “Is that still true?”

In all honesty, she didn’t really want to know the answer. After everything the two had been through, after everything they had shared, she didn’t know if she could handle knowing that all came to an unfortunate end.

Hope doesn’t respond at first, the silence overwhelming the two of them. It’s a minute or two before Carli realized that Hope just wasn’t going to answer the question at all.

She couldn’t help the bitter laugh that escaped her lips as she shook her head.

“Alright. I can take a hint,” she bit out. “I hope you have fun with her, Hope Solo.”

Carli swiftly moved past Hope, bumping into her shoulder harshly before she threw the door open and walked out of the room. The keeper stood still in her spot, not turning around to watch Carli leave because she knew if she did, she would only break.

The captain practically stomped back towards the larger part of the basement, running into a certain freckled defender on the way. Her jaw clenched at the sight of the girl before she rolled her eyes at her, pushing past her the same way she did with Hope.

Her eyes scanned the room for her best friend, finally landing on the familiar blonde across the room. From the moment their eyes met, Becky nodded and met her in the middle, taking her by the arm and leading her out of the house. She yelled a quick goodbye to the group, one that went unnoticed as Moe had taken it upon herself to teach the team a card game to entertain them.

* * *

 

Ashlyn was growing worried. With every minute that Ali remained silent, the blonde’s anxiety grew exponentially.. It had been nearly ten minutes since Ashlyn had pulled Ali outside to the patio and yet Ali still hadn’t spoken since the game.

“Al?” Ashlyn tried once again. “Can you say something?”

And once again, Ali remained silent.

“Alex, please,” Ashlyn pleaded, moving closer to the girl. “Please talk to me. I’m sorry for what I did, whatever it was I did. I’m sorry, but can you talk to me?”

Finally, she received a response. A sigh escaped Ali’s lips before she opened her mouth to speak.

“I just… Whitney, Ash? Really?” Ali blurted out, unable to produce anything more than words and phrases at the moment.

The blonde’s shoulders fell at her words. She knew that it likely had to do with why Ali had stayed silent for so long during the game, but she wasn’t exactly sure what the problem was.

“Ali, that was so long ago. That was like, what, three almost four years ago?” Ashlyn responded, obviously confused. “We just kissed each other and that was it. So what if we were each other’s first kisses? We have no intention of being each other’s last ones.” She sighed. “It didn’t mean anything.”

“Are you sure about that?” Ali threw back, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Wh -  _ Of course _ I’m sure, Alex. What kind of question is that? I want  _ you _ , I’m  _ with _ you. Whit and I are just best friends,” Ashlyn answered.

“Then why’d you drink when they were talking about being in love?” Ali asked. “What, the kiss didn’t mean anything to Whit, but you were pining after her or something? I mean, I wouldn’t blame you. Whit is great and you two are best friends and you’ve known each other for so long that it would make sense for the two of you…” She trailed off in confusion when Ashlyn began to chuckle at her words.

“This isn’t funny, Ash. I’m just trying to get the facts straight here,” Ali said, exasperated.

“Yeah, but trust me, thinking that I have  _ ever _ had feelings for Whit is  _ not _ getting the facts straight. I think you’ve actually made them more crooked, to be honest,” Ashlyn responded, struggling to hold her laughter in.

“What do you mean by that?” Ali asked, confused at the blonde’s reaction.

“What I mean is that, yeah, you’re right.” Ali only became more confused at this statement. “Whit  _ is _ great and we  _ are _ best friends and we  _ have _ known each other for so long…” Ashlyn’s words disappeared at the sight of Ali staring at her with an annoyed expression. “Right! The point, sorry.  _ Anyway _ , you’re right about all of that stuff, but when I took that drink, I was in no way talking about Whit, Alex.”

Silence.

“And is that  _ supposed _ to make me feel better?”

“Uh… yes?”

Ali rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. So it’s not Whit. Who the hell was it then?” Ali questioned.

Ashlyn paused, leveling the girl with a look. “Wait, seriously?” she said.

“Yes, seriously! Who was she?” Ali asked again.

“Al…” Ashlyn started, chuckling again.

“Can you  _ stop _ laughing and just talk to me like a normal person?!” Ali shouted, clearly frustrated.

“Alright, alright.” Ashlyn held her hands up in surrender, still trying to calm herself down. “I just…”

“You just  _ what _ , Ashlyn?!”

“I just… Well, it’s  _ you _ .”

“...  _ What _ ? What is me?”

“Alex, it’s you.”

“I don’t… What do you mean?” Ali said, her voice dropping down to a whisper as her arms fell to her sides.

“What I  _ mean _ …” Ashlyn started, moving forward to take the defender’s hands in hers, “is that I’m in love with  _ you _ .”

Surprisingly, this declaration did not cause Ashlyn’s hands to shake unsteadily despite the nerves she felt at the moment. Her eyes bore into Ali’s, searching for something -  _ anything _ , really - to indicate how the older girl felt.

“I… That’s… But…” Ali was noticeably struggling with getting words out.

Ashlyn flashed her signature smile, single dimple and all, as she stared at Ali with a loving expression. “Yep,” she said. “I love  _ you _ , Alexandra Blaire Krieger.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt unbelievably content, as if being able to admit that aloud provided her with a large amount of relief. “I think I have since the moment I saw you.”

The defender returned her sentiments with a simple smile, just something to show that the statement wasn’t unwelcome.

“I… I’m sorry,” Ali said. “I shouldn’t have gotten angry at you. I just was so worried and I guess I got jealous and then you kept laughing and I got annoyed…” She sighed. “I’m so sorry, Ash.”

The blonde just shook her head. “No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I just… I can’t believe you actually thought I had feelings for Whit,” Ashlyn said, laughing once again. This time, Ali joined in but not before lightly smacking Ashlyn’s arm.

“What else was I supposed to think? She was your first kiss!” Ali tried to justify.

“Yeah, well, you are the only one I’m even thinking of kissing right now until my heart tells me differently,” Ashlyn admitted.

Ali’s heart nearly melted at her words, her cheeks flushing slightly. “Good,” she responded playfully. “I better be.”

“It’s kind of hard not to want to kiss the girl I’m in love with,” Ashlyn replied, shrugging.

“I… Ash, I…” Ali tried, but was cut off by Ashlyn.

“No, Al. It’s okay. You don’t have to say it back,” the blonde said. “I didn’t say it because I needed to hear it back. I said it because it’s how I feel… Well, that and to keep you from killing Whit, obviously.’

Ali rolled her eyes.

“I wouldn’t have had to kill her if you weren’t being so sneaky about that drink,” she pointed out.

“Hey, I was being sneaky because I didn’t know if you knew,” Ashlyn explained. “And I didn’t really know how to say it yet, so I figured taking a drink was a better idea.”

The defender’s eyes widened. “Wait, were you not… Oh my god, you weren’t ready to say it and I practically bullied it out of you. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, Ash,” Ali rambled.

“Hey,” Ashlyn said, catching Ali’s attention away from her own thoughts. “It’s okay. I’m fine. We’re fine. I thought… Well, I thought saying it was going to be a lot scarier than that, but honestly, you being angry about something as crazy as  _ me liking Whit _ made it so much easier. And well, now I’m glad you know how I feel. I’m pretty sure you were the only one left on the team who didn’t.”

“Wait, really?” Ali looked shocked.

“Really. I’m pretty sure they haven’t stopped using that to screw with me ever since I  _ apparently _ went all bug-eyed when I first saw you out on the pitch.” Ashlyn shrugged while Ali laughed lightly at the image. “But it’s whatever because look at me now. I’ve got the most beautiful girl in the world right in front of me and she lets me hug her and talk to her and hang out with her and kiss her.”

Ali blushed at the keeper’s words. “Speaking of kissing her… why  _ haven’t _ you done that yet?” she asked, a small grin appearing on her face.

“Hm… This is a good question.” Ashlyn pulled a hand away, tapping her chin as if in thought. Ali rolled her eyes at the girl’s stalling tactics. The blonde shifted her gaze to see Ali giving her a disbelieving look.

She grinned before finally leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to the girl’s lips. “I love you,” she mumbled.

Ali gave a hum in acknowledgement before pulling Ashlyn closer to her into a deeper kiss. Before it could get anymore heated, though, Ashlyn made a move to pull away. She gave Ali an apologetic smile, one that the defender shook her head at. It was good that they stopped, especially since neither of them were ready for anything like that and they definitely didn’t want it to happen while they were at Kelley’s house with the rest of their teammates.

“We should head back inside,” Ashlyn said, to which Ali responded with a nod.

“Yeah, they’re probably wondering where we are,” the defender agreed.

Ashlyn moved away from Ali, but made sure to keep a hold on her hand as she led the girl back inside to a loud room filled with soccer players all yelling at Moe for cheating at whatever game it was they were playing.

The keeper’s eyes landed on Christen in the team circle. When she didn’t see Alex or Tobin around, she figured they had left and that was why Christen seemed to be participating in the game half-heartedly. She let go of Ali’s hand, letting the defender head over to JJ while she moved to sit by Christen. At the sad smile the forward shot her, she couldn’t help but wish that her and Tobin would figure things out soon.

* * *

Holding a hand out to the forward, Tobin helped Alex stand from the circle of people. However, she didn’t let go of Alex’s hand and instead proceeded to pull the girl off to the side. The forward wasn’t surprised by the action, letting the mid take her wherever. She knew what they needed to talk about, though it wasn’t a conversation she was exactly looking forward to.

Tobin didn’t hesitate to drag Alex off to one of the many empty rooms in the basement, years of spending time in the basement providing her with the knowledge of where each and every door led. She let Alex go in ahead of her, closing the door behind them.

She took her time, choosing not to immediately rush into what she wanted to know about. The two stood there in silence and Alex tried her best to think of a decent lie or even a simple distraction. The last thing she wanted to talk about was why she had drank for that particular ‘never have I ever’ statement. She had done it on impulse, not really thinking through the consequences of her actions when she drank. After all, it wasn’t as if anyone besides Christen knew about what happened and she wasn’t likely to call Alex out on it if she hadn’t drank.

Unfortunately, her thoughts were interrupted by Tobin speaking.

“Alex, when you said you kissed a teammate…” the mid began, trailing off when she realized that she wasn’t sure exactly how to phrase the question.

The forward debated staying silent. She really did, but every single part of her was saying to tell the truth. The only problem was that the truth was never going to be something that Tobin could ever be happy to hear and she didn’t want to upset someone who she considered to be a really good friend.

However, she knew that if she stayed silent, Tobin would end up conjuring up all kinds of ideas in her head and/or end up confronting Christen about it. As upset and frustrated she was towards Christen for being so evasive and short with her recently, she didn’t want her friend to end up being on the receiving end of however Tobin ended up reacting.

“Lex?” Tobin pressed, raising a brow at her as she crossed her arms.

Alex sighed, leaning back against a dresser as she rubbed at the back of her neck. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Tobs,” she said, looking up to meet the mid’s eyes.

“Tell me why you drank,” Tobin demanded.

“Christen and I were rooming together at camp. Coach was trying to do this thing with mixing up the older players with the newer ones and so I ended up with Chris as my roommate. And it was great. We got along really well and we’re pretty much the same age, so it worked out. But then I would notice her acting weird around me sometimes, especially when her phone would go off and… and she’d take calls in, like, the middle of the night or during meals,” Alex began.

“The last thing I wanted was for my roommate to keep things from me, so I kind of cornered her one day. We had a break from training and we were in the room and I finally asked her about it. I’d never seen her look so scared, not even before her first game with us. But I just… I kept pushing for some answers and then she finally told me.”

“Told you what?” Tobin asked.

“She finally told me about you,” Alex said, shrugging as a small smile appeared on her face at the memory. “She had mentioned you before, so it’s not like your name just came up out of the blue, but when she first talked about you, it was just as her best friend. But that time, she talked about you as her girlfriend.”

Tobin moved to sit at the edge of the bed, facing Alex as the forward continued to tell her story.

“I remember being really happy for her, not just because of you but because she told me. It was easy to see how happy you made her and that made me so grateful that she had someone like you. And after that day, we just grew closer,” Alex continued. “With the breaks we had at camp, she would go home to you and come back just as happy, if not happier. But… then she wasn’t. It was just one day where she wasn’t playing well and I could see that she was in her head and it didn’t take too long after that for her to kind of lose it.”

Alex paused, taking a deep breath.

“She wasn’t there for dinner one night and so I covered for her, told coach she was sleeping off a headache she got after practice. Then I grabbed some food to bring to her and she was just there in bed, sitting with her phone in her hand. I asked her what was going on and she told me that she broke things off with you. I mean, of course that surprised the hell out of me considering how in love you two seemed to be, at least from her point of view. Well, I did see some pictures you two had together, too, but anyway, you just seemed really happy, so I didn’t know why she had done it.” Alex shrugged.

Unfortunately, Tobin remembered that day on the phone all too well, her jaw tightening slightly at the memories as she willed any possible hint of tears away.

“And it didn’t seem like she was going to tell me if I asked, so I didn’t. I figured it would be fine. I’d distract her, soccer would distract her and everything would get right back on track,” Alex said. “But I found out that that’s not really how it worked.”

The forward’s eyes shifted down to her fidgeting hands, avoiding looking at the mid as she told the next part of the story.

“She was torn apart by what happened. I mean, I had seen some bad breakups, but this was, like, a whole new level. I just came into the room and she was practically shaking on her bed. At this point I’d like to think we had become really good friends, practically best friends, so I didn’t even hesitate before comforting her. She was in my arms and I was just trying to get her to calm down and breathe and the next thing I knew, she was kissing me. Honestly, it took me a couple of seconds for my brain to catch up to what was happening and I ended it once the shock wore off,” Alex said. “I admit it wasn’t my best moment, but I didn’t, like, encourage it or anything. She was hurt and I was there and it just happened.”

Tobin remained sat on the bed, a stoic expression on her face as she tried to take in the information.

“I’m so sorry, Tobs. I just… I heard the statement and I just drank. Sorry,” Alex said, finally pushing off the dresser and towards Tobin.

Alex was reaching out for her when the mid stood up suddenly, stepping back from her.

The forward’s shoulders dropped, along with the hand she had held out.

“Wh-Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Tobin questioned, brows furrowed in confusion as she tried to make sense of the situation. “Why would you keep something like this from me?”

Brows scrunched together, Alex responded, “I didn’t think I’d ever need to tell you. It’s not exactly something that needs to be common knowledge. And it’s not like it meant anything.”

“It didn’t mean… I don’t  _ care _ if it meant something or not, Alex! You’re telling me that you kissed my ex-girlfriend while the two of you were rooming together at camp!” Tobin exclaimed.

“Hey, I didn’t kiss her. She kissed  _ me _ !” Alex retorted, the volume of her voice also rising.

“That doesn’t matter! I can’t believe you and Christen…” Tobin began to mumble under her breath, somehow having regained motion in her legs again as she paced back and forth in front of Alex.

“Nothing besides that has happened between me and Chris, Tobs. I swear!”

“Don’t call me that!” Tobin responded, shaking her head. “How… How am I even supposed to believe you? How do I know you’re not the actual reason she broke up with me in the first place? Like you said, if we were doing so well, if we were so  _ damn happy _ , why the hell else would she break my heart if not because of someone else being in the picture? Huh? Tell me, Alex. Tell me why I should believe you.”

Alex opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Tobin cut her off with a scoff. Her eyes had landed upon the forward’s, gaze boring into them as they flashed both anger and pain.

“So what, was this your plan or something? Switch schools, befriend the  _ enemy _ , and get Christen to choose you or something? Hell, how am I supposed to know that you’re not actually together and you came here just so you could keep an eye on me or something?” Tobin was ranting now, pulling all of these thoughts and fears out of her head and throwing them out there, leaving Alex to simply stare at her in shock.

“Tobin, do you even hear yourself?” Alex questioned. “You sound absolutely ridiculous! Christen and I have never been and will never be together. I don’t… I don’t  _ know _ why she broke up with you, okay? That’s why I was confused as hell, because I. Don’t. Know. But I sure as hell didn’t have anything to do with it. As far as I knew, she was completely, head over heels in love with you. I don’t know why she ended it with you.”

“And why should I believe you?” Tobin shot back.

“Because I haven’t given you any reason - well, besides that story I just told you - not to believe me,” Alex said. She stepped forward to gently, and carefully, place a hand on Tobin’s arm. “Tobin, please.”

However, the midfielder wasn’t having it. Tobin shook her head, pulling her arm out from under Alex’s hand. “Don’t, Alex,” she said, stepping back and heading towards the door. “Just don’t.” Those were her last words before she left the room, slamming the door closed behind her.

Alex couldn’t help but stare at the closed door, wondering exactly where it was she had messed up to the point where she lost someone she considered a good friend, where she lost Tobin.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex stays the night at Kelley's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all! I'm so sorry posting this chapter took longer than I thought it would. I thought I would easily be able to finish chapter 9 last week but with everything regarding the election and my family dealing with the election as well as school, I just didn't have much motivation to write. But here it is, the next chapter, so tell me what you think! Also, I think I'll stick to Tuesday updates because I feel like it works out relatively well most of the time. It should go back to being weekly, but if not, then I could either post things a day or two later or just another week later, but I doubt it will be like this week. Thank you so much for reading this, though, and if anybody ever wants to talk about this whole election jaunt or anything else, don't hesitate to hit me up! Just remember that you are loved and I respect you :)

By the time Alex got up and arrived back in the main area of the basement, Tobin was gone. As her eyes scanned across the room, she noticed the lack of Christen’s presence as well. She assumed that the girl had gone after Tobin when she left, wanting to explain her side of the story. If anything, Alex hoped that Christen would tell Tobin why she really ended things between the two of them because judging by the mid’s reaction, there were still many things that were unclear in that situation.

The second she stepped into the room, nearly every pair of eyes turned to her. Some were curious, wondering where her and Tobin had gone off to and likely why Tobin had run off. Others were pitying, as if they felt bad about the fact that Tobin had left her. Either way, she didn’t appreciate the attention.

Fortunately, Ashlyn read the situation perfectly and immediately moved toward the large group in the center, clapping her hands together as she diverted their focus toward the card game once again. Alex sent the blonde a grateful smile, to which she received a playful wink in response. The forward took a seat on the floor, leaning back against the wall at an empty side of the room, just needing space and time to breathe after what happened. She noticed footsteps moving towards her and looked up to see Ali walking over.

The defender gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze before taking a seat beside her. Ali didn’t say anything, choosing to let the two of them sit in silence. Grateful for being given the time to think, Alex leaned over to place her head on Ali’s shoulder, the girl shifting to let her get comfortable.

It’s no more than a few minutes later when heavy footsteps cut across the room. Alex immediately moved her head up from Ali’s shoulder, the both of them focusing their attention on their keeper. Hope stopped in the middle of the room, waiting for the footsteps to catch up to her. She turned in her spot to meet Kelley who stopped behind her. Kelley was speaking, but the words were quiet enough that neither Alex nor Ali could make out what she was saying. All they saw was Hope hesitate before nodding at Kelley’s words.

The keeper sent the small defender a weak smile before turning and leaving. Kelley was left standing in the middle of the room, watching as Hope walked away. She looked around the room, rolling her eyes at Ashlyn and Moe trying to calm down their teammates who were apparently accusing the two of conspiring against the rest of them to win.

Kelley’s eyes landed on Ali and Alex on the other side of the room. Her concerned gaze met Ali’s, while Alex had returned her head to the older defender’s shoulder. _“Is she okay?”_ Kelley mouthed the words to Ali as she began to step closer to them.

Ali did her best to shake her head in the negative without alerting Alex. It seemed to work, seeing as the forward didn’t notice Kelley’s presence until she was right in front of them. Alex looked up at Kelley, unable to muster even the weakest of smiles, instead staring at her for a few moments before moving her head back to Ali’s shoulder. Kelley deflated at the sight of the girl looking so defeated. The defender sighed, moving to sit on Alex’s other side. Ali watched her do so, tapping Alex’s head lightly to get her to move.

“Sorry, Alex, but I should probably go stop everybody from killing my girlfriend,” Ali said, smiling slightly, hoping for any hint of a response from Alex only to receive nothing. Instead, Alex moved her head to lean back against the wall, practically ignoring Kelley’s presence at her other side. The defenders looked at each other, Ali pleading with her gaze for Kelley to be careful, to which she replied with a nod. Ali stood, glancing back at the two girls for a second before moving towards the rest of the team, placing her hands on Ashlyn’s shoulders and immediately making her relax.

Alex and Kelley didn’t speak. Alex wasn’t really looking to talk, anyway, wanting to drown herself in her own guilt and shame in silence. Kelley, however, did want to talk, but she was having trouble figuring out exactly what to say to the girl.

“Do you know where Tobin and Chris went?” Kelley asked, finally noticing the lack of their presence in the room. When she received no response, she turned to see Alex staring at her with a stoic expression. It was clearly the wrong thing to say.

It was another few minutes before Kelley finally spoke again, much to Alex’s chagrin. “Congrats on your goals, by the way,” she said, smiling over at the forward. “That’s definitely one way to play in your debut. I think the only one who’s done that in their first game was Carli. Well, and me.” Her attempt at the joke went unnoticed as she noticed that Alex still hadn’t said anything or even reacted, her eyes glazed over as if her mind was a million miles away.

“I think we’re going to have a really good season with you here. I mean, we were a good team before but you’re, like, an amazing striker. I’m not even that hurt that I got moved to outside back because you’re such a great forward. I mean, I liked being up top, but being in the backline is fun, too. New environment and all that,” Kelley continued. “Besides, defense wins championships, you know. So if we… Well, I mean I’m pretty sure we have a really good chance of making the championships, then I’m sure we can -”

“Can you _shut up_?” Alex finally snapped, her angry gaze training itself on Kelley. The last thing she wanted was to hold a conversation, especially not with Kelley, of all people, who seemed to treat her like she was invisible whenever Hope was around.

Kelley shrinked back in response to her words, the obvious hurt etched on her face. The guilt immediately manifested inside Alex, only worsening when Kelley spoke again. “What’s wrong, Lex?” she asked softly, obviously not as fazed with the forward’s outburst as one normally would be.

As much as Alex wanted to brush off the question, Kelley looked so concerned, staring at her with a worried gaze as she waited patiently for an answer.

And it was that particular look that caused everything about what had just happened with Tobin to come out of her mouth, the words spilling one after another as she explained the situation to Kelley. She told the freckled girl about what she had done during ‘never have I ever’, which Kelley had honestly been curious about as well, and how Tobin had pulled her aside so they could talk about it. She told her about what happened between her and Christen during camp after Christen had broken up with Tobin. She told her about Tobin getting angry and accusing her of things she wasn’t guilty of and how the mid had stormed out, leaving Alex alone.

Kelley listened patiently, her gaze intensely focused on Alex as she spoke. She tried not to react to the image of Christen and Alex kissing, but she grimaced, finding that the thought bothered her more than it really should. However, she just chalked that up to the fact that Tobin was her best friend and she was simply upset with what the forward did.

When Alex finished, she found herself wrapped up in the smaller girl’s arms as she noticed the tears that had fallen down her face. She was trying to get her breathing back to normal, the rambling and the crying having hindered her ability to get a normal breath in.

“Shh…” Kelley tried, moving a hand up to stroke the forward’s head softly. “It’s okay, Lex. It’s okay.”

Alex began to shake her head, obviously disagreeing with that sentiment. “No. No, it’s not. I screwed up. I should’ve told Tobin sooner. I should’ve said something about it,” she responded.

Kelley shook her head, shifting so she could look into Alex’s eyes. The moment her gaze locked with Alex’s, she paused, somehow just now noticing how blue the forward’s eyes were. Her train of thought seemed to disappear at the sight of those deep pools of blue, ones that were tainted with so much sadness and guilt that Kelley couldn’t help but tighten her hold around Alex.

“Kel?” Alex spoke up, her brows furrowing at the girl. “Do I have something on my face?” Alex moved to sit up slightly, wiping at her face, and this caused Kelley to snap out of her trance.

She shook her head. “No, I just… Never mind,” Kelley answered. “I don’t want you to blame yourself, Lex. Clearly Tobs and Chris have stuff they need to talk about and work through, but this isn’t your fault. You weren’t obligated to tell her this and it’s not like you’re going after Chris… right?” The question at the end came unexpectedly, catching both of them off guard as Kelley tried to think of a reason she could’ve asked that while Alex looked at Kelley incredulously, for more reasons than one.

“No!” Alex exclaimed, shaking her head quickly. “No, of course not! Christen and I are friends and that’s all I’ve ever thought about being with her. That’s exactly what I told Tobin.”

“O-Okay.” Kelley felt herself breathe a sigh of relief. “Good. Then she knows where you stand and… and maybe she just needs some time to think, to let it all sink in. Hell, maybe she’ll finally talk to Christen about what the hell happened this summer and we can all finally move the fuck on."

The two went back to sitting in silence, Alex leaning back into the defender as Kelley gently ran her fingers through her hair. The forward felt comfortable in the girl’s hold, content, even. It was as if the warmth of the other girl was the one thing she needed to finally feel relaxed and the thought of that scared her. When she first met Kelley, she knew that the girl would end up being someone special to her, but a part of her hoped that the feelings she had for the smaller girl would somehow fade, especially when she found out about Hope. Heartbreak wasn’t something she wanted to experience again, but as luck would have it, it didn't seem the world would let her avoid it.

Her eyes were beginning to close when Kelley spoke again. At this point, she was practically cuddling into the girl, her own hand lying atop Kelley’s still one that was placed on her stomach.

“You should get some rest,” Kelley said. “It’s late and you’re clearly tired.”

Alex looked up, nodding before untangling herself from Kelley’s arms. “Yeah, I’ll go see if Ash can give me a ride or something,” she said, moving to stand.

She was pulled back down into Kelley before she was fully upright. The confusion on her face was obvious to the defender.

“No, you don’t have to leave,” Kelley said.

“What?”

“You can stay here, if you want. It’s a weekend, anyway, and it’s a big house,” Kelley suggested.

“But what about Hope?” Alex asked.

“What _about_ Hope?”

“Isn’t she staying with you?”

“Oh. Uh, yeah, but she can just take another room,” Kelley answered. “Besides, you need someone right now.”

Alex hesitated before nodding, resetting herself back into the girl’s hold.

It was a few minutes later when Ali walked up to the two of them. Alex shifted to look up at her.

“Hey. Kel, we’re going to head out now,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder to the team who was beginning to get up and gather themselves.

Kelley nodded, thanking her. The two girls watched as Ali walked away, meeting Ashlyn in the middle. They smiled as Ashlyn wrapped an arm around the older girl’s shoulders, pulling her close as they herded the rest of the team outside of the house.

Sighing, Kelley moved out from behind Alex, causing the forward to lean back stand as well. “I can help clean, if you want,” Alex said.

Kelley quickly shook her head, denying the request. “No, it’s fine. You’re my guest and I don’t think there’s that much to clean, anyway. It’ll just take a couple of minutes,” she responded.

Around ten minutes passed with Kelley moving around the basement, cleaning up the occasional stray cup or plate, while Alex stood around and watched her, at least after Kelley “scolded” her for beginning to stack up the empty pizza boxes to throw away.

“Done,” Kelley stated, her hands landing on her hips as she turned to give Alex a satisfied grin.

Alex rolled her eyes, biting back the urge to tell her that she would’ve been done sooner if she had just let the forward help as she smiled at the grinning girl in front of her.

Kelley gestured over her shoulder for Alex to follow her and the forward did so, letting herself be lead up the stairs. She paused to let Kelley go into the kitchen and clean up a bit, leaning against the doorway as the other girl put things back on shelves and in cabinets.

“Your house is really clean,” Alex blurted out, brows furrowing as she glanced around the seemingly unused kitchen.

A look of surprise crossed Kelley’s face at the statement before they neutralized and she shrugged in response. “My parents aren’t home much. Not much use for a lot of the house, honestly,” she admitted.

“Oh. Sorry,” Alex responded.

“No. It’s fine,” Kelley said. “You don’t need to be sorry. After a couple years, you get used to it. At least I don’t have to deal with having a nanny annoying me anymore.”

Alex nodded in response. “I guess it makes your house a nice place to hang out in, too,” she commented.

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” Kelley shrugged, smiling slightly. “C’mon, let’s go to my room so you can get some sleep.”

She led them up the stairs while Alex’s gaze glanced around at the walls. There was a picture here and there, but nowhere near the amount that was in her home. Not to mention that her walls at home were normally lined with old family pictures, most of which she thought were embarrassing, while the few things that were up on Kelley’s walls were fancy paintings that looked as if they came from an auction.

Walking into the second door on the right, Kelley gestured for Alex to follow inside. The forward did so, trying to keep the shock off of her face as her eyes scanned the large bedroom. Her eyes landed on large queen size bed in the middle of the left side of her room. Navy blue sheets covered large bed, something Alex had come to find was actually very Kelley. As she looked around, she spotted two doors, one leading to a walk in closet and the other, she assumed, leading to a bathroom.

Her desk stood in the corner, the top relatively cluttered with what looked like textbooks, books, and papers. There were two bedside tables, one considerably neater than the other and Alex quickly assumed that was Hope’s area. Alex saw the dresser by the desk, knowing that one of the drawers was Hope’s own personal drawer.

But despite the fact that part of the room was definitely influenced in some way by the keeper she had grown to be extremely jealous of, that wasn’t actually what stood out to her. No, what stood out to her was the sheer amount of soccer related items strewn about the room, from a pair of Kelley’s cleats tossed carelessly on the floor by her desk chair to the multitude of team and player posters hung up on her walls. In addition, she had managed to get ahold of some team signed jerseys which were framed and proudly hung up on the walls.

“Lex?” Kelley called from inside the walk in closet.

Alex turned her head towards her, calling out a ‘yeah?’ in response.

Kelley stepped back into the room, spotting Alex standing in the middle of it and walking over to her. She held out a pair of shorts and a large shirt.

“You can get changed in here and I’m going to go lock up,” she said, already leaving the room and closing the door before Alex could thank her.

She changed into the clothes she was given, folding up the clothes she was wearing and placing them on an empty space on top of the dresser.

Hearing voices travel from down the hall, Alex opened the door and stepped outside, dressed in a pair of shorts that were just a little snug and a shirt that was almost large enough to completely cover up the shorts. Her eyes landed on Kelley, who was currently standing next to Hope at the top of the stairs.

The forward met the keeper’s narrowed eyes and she wondered why felt as guilty as she did, especially since she hadn’t done anything wrong.

Kelley leaned up, standing on her tiptoes, to whisper something into Hope’s ear. Whatever it was must have been enough to soften Hope’s gaze as the taller girl nodded in understanding. She walked forward, passing Alex to step into Kelley’s room. Alex stood there, confused, as Kelley moved towards her. It was no more than two minutes before Hope exited the room, a set of clothes in her hand. She mumbled something about sleeping in the guest room - to which Alex sighed in relief - and bid them both a good night.

Frozen in place, Alex simply nodded, not quite sure about what had just happened. Kelley, at her side now, looked at her and rolled her eyes, taking her by the arm and pulling her back into the room.

She led them to the bed, Alex at one side while Kelley moved to get into the other side. Glancing over at the girl next to her in the bed, she clapped her hands twice to turn off the lights. Alex couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at the ridiculous sight, turning her head towards Kelley.

“Seriously?” Alex asked. “That’s how you turn off your lights?”

Shrugging, Kelley answered, “Not usually. There actually are light switches, but it’s nice to have it when you’re already comfortable in bed and you don’t want to get up.”

“That’s so ridiculous,” Alex said, laughing lightly again. “Just ridiculous.”

“Well, that’s what my parents are, so I guess it’s fitting,” Kelley joked, though the slight tension in her words was obvious.

Alex stayed quiet at that, taking a few moments before speaking again. “You’re ridiculous, too, you know,” she said, causing Kelley to furrow her brows in slight offense. “But in the good way.”

A small grin made its way on Kelley’s face. “Thanks.” She paused. “I try.”

This caused both girls to chuckle.

“Good night, Kel,” Alex said quietly.

“Good night, Lex.”

Kelley rolled onto her side, closing her eyes and letting the exhaustion from the events of the day catch up to her. With how tired she was, she would have fallen asleep already if it weren’t for the stillness she could feel beside her.

Opening one eye, she peeked at Alex who was currently laying down flat on her back as stiff as a board.

“Lex?”

“Yeah?”

“C’mere.” Kelley shifted to pull Alex closer to her.

The forward hesitated before letting herself be pulled into Kelley’s arms. Warmth spread through her as the defender’s arms wrapped themselves snugly around her, head resting right under her chin.

Unbeknownst to her, Kelley felt the exact same warmth in her body. The way Alex fit into her arms caught her off guard, causing her to tense just slightly in panic before she decided it was too late and she was too tired to deal with it. Letting Alex snuggle into her, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post-weekend, some members of the team are clouded with anger and frustration and unfortunately, it affects the game. But Alex has something to smile about... or at least, someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So I have decided, that I will likely be posting updates every other week now. I tried to keep up with the chapters, I really did, but now with finals coming up, having time to devote to writing this will be a challenge. Therefore, the next update will take place on the 13th of December. I'm incredibly sorry to those who want more frequent updates, but college has become extremely busy for me lately, so I'm afraid this is the best I can do until break. Hopefully then I'll have the time to work more on the outline of this story and get things rolling again. Thank you for those who have stuck by this story. I really appreciate and love y'all. As always, comment what you think!

Two days later, Kelley, Christen, Alex, and Tobin were back in their history class on a Monday morning. While Alex had stayed over at Kelley’s house on Friday night, she left in a rush the next morning due to an overwhelming feeling of embarrassment washing over her the following morning. She at least left the girl a note, making something up about her mom wanting her home, before hastily exiting the house and walking the mile home.

Kelley had sent her a text that morning when she woke up to make sure she was alright and the two had been texting ever since. Meanwhile, Tobin hadn’t responded to any of her calls or texts and she had grown worried about the girl. Well, at least until she saw her in history class, headphones in and an expressionless face focused towards the front of the room. However, the moment Alex sat in front of the girl in her usual seat and turned around to acknowledge her, Tobin tilted her head down, pretending to keep her attention on the blank page of her notebook on her desk.

Discouraged, the forward immediately turned back around in her seat, ready to filter out the droning voice of their teacher as she prepared to start her lesson. She felt a hand give her shoulder a gentle reassuring squeeze and she looked up to see Kelley, who she assumed had just arrived, with a small smile. Returning a grateful smile, she watched the girl walk over to the other end of the room and take her seat, which was now next to Christen’s after their teacher insisted that partners sit by each other due to half the class being devoted to working on the project.

The next 45 minutes seemed to drag on, at least to Alex who spent the majority of the class trying to devise a plan to get Tobin to finally speak to her. After all, the two  _ were _ project partners and they would have to communicate at some point. The only time she didn’t spend running through the options in her head were when she would accidentally catch Kelley’s gaze from across the room, leading to the defender trying - and succeeding - to make her laugh. Once or twice she couldn’t handle her amusement at Kelley’s facial expression and she had to cover her mouth to keep from disrupting the class.

When their teacher finally told everybody to get with their partners and work on their project, Alex was still at a loss as to how to get Tobin to say something to her. Nevertheless, she turned around in her seat, saying something about how they really needed to figure out what they were doing for the project and exactly who was doing what part. To Alex’s credit, none of her words came out annoyed or even frustrated, simply pleading.

Unfortunately, Tobin continued to pay her no attention, instead writing the topic of the project that they had been given in class at the top of her paper. She began to jot down ideas, all the while completely ignoring anything Alex was saying.

Across the room, Christen and Kelley were trying to keep their attention on their own project. This was easier said than done as they could both see Alex struggling to get Tobin to even acknowledge her. Kelley looked on sadly, feeling bad for the girl especially with how much they had talked the past weekend. Somehow, even through simple words on a screen, the two had grown close in a short amount of time and now that she could see how visibly hurt Alex was by Tobin’s behavior, she felt for the girl.

Meanwhile. Christen was staring at Tobin. If this was a year ago, Tobin would have instantly looked up and met the forward’s gaze, having told Christen that she could always tell when she was looking at her. So now she was certain that Tobin could feel her gaze and she sort of admired the mid’s ability to ignore her, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to do the same if the tables were turned. Then again, the obvious anger she seemed to be feeling probably had a lot to do with her resolve.

Her shoulders fell, remembering exactly that way that anger had been directed at her when she ran out after Tobin the past weekend.

_ “Tobin, wait!” _

_ The mid halted in her steps, turning around to face Christen with an angry expression. _

_ “What, Christen?” she spit out, crossing her arms over her chest. “You here to tell me more about you and Alex?” _

_ “What?  _ No _. Tobin…” Christen took a deep breath. “Okay, yes. I kissed her, okay? I don’t know exactly what happened, but I did kiss her. But, Tobin! It didn’t  _ mean _ anything, alright? Alex and I… We never have and never will be anything but friends. I swear, Tobin. I wouldn’t do that to you, okay? I made a mistake. I was… I was really upset and she was there and it just happened, but it meant nothing to me. We both agreed it didn’t mean anything.” _

_ “Then why didn’t you just tell me?” Tobin asked. _

_ “And say what?!” Christen released a frustrated sigh. “Oh, yeah, I know we broke up but I just thought you should know that I kissed Alex Morgan when I was rooming with her because I felt like crap and I was practically hysterical when she tried to comfort me.” _

_ “Well, maybe you wouldn’t have been upset if you hadn’t broken up with me in the first place!” Tobin threw back. _

_ Christen visibly shrank. “Don’t you think I know that?” she asked quietly. _

_ “No, actually. I don’t,” Tobin responded, an evident bite in her tone. “If you did, then you wouldn’t have called me out of the blue and dumped me over the phone. God, Chris, do you know how that  _ felt _? I thought we were good, I thought were  _ happy _. Then… Then I get this call in the middle of dinner and you tell me that you can’t do this anymore? That you can’t do whatever this is between us anymore?” _

_ “Tobs, I…-” _

_ “You didn’t even give me a reason!” Tobin shouted, cutting her off before she could say anything. “I kept asking why and you just… you kept saying that you couldn’t do it anymore. Honestly, what the hell, Christen? I thought I meant more to you than that.” _

_ “You do, Tobin. You mean so much to me and -” _

_ “Then why? Why would just… throw that all away in a phone call? Just tell me why, Chris. I still… -” Tobin shook her head. “I need you to give me a reason.” _

_ Christen stood there quietly, going back and forth in her head about telling Tobin the truth. And right as Tobin was going to speak, Christen cut her off. _

_ “I just thought couldn’t do it anymore, Tobin... I didn’t know how to handle everything and…” Christen paused, causing Tobin to raise her brow to urge her to continue, “and I’m sorry.” _

_ Tobin couldn’t help but scoff at the girl’s so called explanation. It was just as vague as their conversation on the phone they had that night. “Yeah, well. I’m sorry, too, Chris. I’m sorry I wasn’t worth it. I’m sorry you couldn’t handle whatever it was we had.” _

_ “Tobin-” _

_ Christen was cut off by the sound of Kelley’s front door opening just several feet behind them. Tobin twisted her head to look around Christen, spotting Hope exiting the house. The older girl did not look pleased, but Tobin still jumped at this opportunity. _

_ “Hope!” she called out, drawing the attention of the tall keeper. Tobin jogged over to her. “Hey, can I get a ride home?” _

_ Hope stared down at the mid, looking past her towards Christen whose hurt gaze was trained upon Tobin. She felt for the forward, she really did, but from what she knew of what happened, courtesy of Kelley’s need to gossip, it was probably best that she gave Tobin a ride home. So she nodded, gesturing over to her car in the driveway. _

_ From the front lawn, Christen watched as the two girls entered the car and drove away, trying to keep her tears at bay. She debated calling JJ to take her home, but not wanting to bother the blonde nor wanting her to see the state she was currently in, she decided to walk home instead. _

“Chris?” She heard from beside her, finally noticing that Kelley had placed a hand over hers. “You okay?”

The forward offered Kelley a weak smile in response, nodding her head.

At Kelley’s insistence, the two began to work on their project again. They were mostly running through ideas of how to present their topic as well as when they should meet up outside of class in order to actually get the work done. However, Christen noticed the way Kelley’s eyes would occasionally drift back over to the other side of the room where Alex had no luck whatsoever in getting Tobin to respond.

Several minutes later, Alex let out a defeated sigh before turning around and working on her part of the project. If Tobin wasn’t going to speak to her, then she would focus on the project instead. When Tobin noticed the lack of a voice pestering her, she looked up and was met with the sight of Alex’s back. It caused a look of guilt to appear on her face, though when she turned her head and met Kelley’s piercing gaze from across the room, she sent the girl an annoyed expression before rolling her eyes and returning her attention to her work.

For the rest of class, Alex made no other effort to talk to Tobin and the mid kept her focus on her desk, idly making notes for their project topic. Christen and Kelley spent their time gathering notes on their topic while also attempting to keep their glances to the other side of the room to a minimum.

* * *

The sound of the whistle cut through the air once again as the players groaned in unison. They had been doing drills and sprint for the past hour and it was getting tiring. Fortunately, they were about to get a change of pace as the coach announced they would scrimmage against each other.

Throughout the drills, the coach had noticed a weird lack of communication between a great number of people. The team dynamic was off and she knew that with their most important game coming up at the end of the week, they needed to get whatever issues they had with one another sorted before it. She informed the team they would be scrimmaging against one another before strategically splitting them up where the problems seemed to be. Her assistant coach walked up behind her, leaning over to say, “I think we’re going to have an interesting practice.” To this, the coach nods in agreement, watching as half her players pulled on a penny.

The two teams, red and blue, stood across from one another on either side of the center line. On the red team team stood Hope, Kelley, JJ, Becky, Tobin, Allie, Christen, and Jessie while the blue team consisted of Ashlyn, Whitney, Ali, Emily, Carli, Moe, Alex, and Mallory. The goals were shifted to shorten the length of the field just slightly to keep the team from straining themselves too hard with the smaller amount of players on each team. This scrimmage was more about working well technically and strategically than a test on their fitness.

From the moment the whistle is blown to start the game, both teams are ready to fight for their win. The game was aggressive, not to the point where they would injure each other, but enough that there were about three fouls called within the first twenty minutes of the scrimmage. The two coaches stood on the sidelines and watched, waiting patiently for the team to work itself out.

Hope and Ashlyn both come up big for their teams, making great saves against Carli and Alex, and Tobin and Allie. The denial of those scoring opportunities only served to motivate each team more to win.

Throughout the game however, Tobin purposely kept herself from sending the ball to Christen, instead choosing to feed the balls to Allie and/or Jessie, despite Christen being in a better position to score. In addition, Tobin also chose not to engage in any part of the field that had Alex, limiting her ability to move the ball up. The coach saw this from the sidelines, shaking her head in disapproval as Tobin gave away yet another ball to the team due to both Jessie and Allie being covered by defenders.

Meanwhile, Carli seemed to be doing her best to aim the ball near Hope’s head anytime she had a scoring opportunity. Not only did this make the shot a bit harder to block, it also helped to get her anger out judging by the force with which it hit Hope. The keeper’s gaze is fixed on the mid, a look of guilt on her face as their eyes met. She knew why their captain was upset and assumed that Carli was currently imagining the ball as her head whenever she kicked it.

Right in front of her, her backline looked to be holding their own. Kelley was the defender on Alex, putting pressure on her whenever she had the ball in order to either force her to take a shot or to pass back considering Mallory hadn’t yet gotten into an onside position. The forward made a mistake, providing Kelley with the opportunity to steal the ball. She sent Alex a teasing grin, obviously trying to have fun with the girl. Alex only shook her head at the girl before following to try and get the ball back.

Unfortunately, she has already passed it back up the field to another teammate before Alex reaches her. The forward then dropped back, watching the ball move from one player to another on the other half of the field, leaving Kelley alone where she was standing. Tobin moved towards the defender, clearly annoyed with what had just happened.

“How about you stop flirting and play the damn game?” Tobin snapped, sending the girl an accusing glare.

Rolling her eyes, Kelley scoffed before throwing back in response, “How about  _ you _ play the damn game and actually help us score?” She then dropped back down to their defending third, making sure to keep in line with the rest of backline until she needed to act.

Allie kicked the ball to Tobin who then drove it up the side herself, looking for an open player who wasn’t Christen. She crossed it over to Jessie who somehow drops the ball down enough to slam it past Ashlyn’s fingertips. The ball hit the back of the net, causing a cheer to come from the red team as they were the first to score.

The mid made her way back to her starting position, calling out to Kelley, “That enough scoring for you?”

Kelley rolled her eyes, choosing to focus on the game instead of her friend’s current attitude.

The game started up again, the red team’s goal serving as motivation for the blue team to score. Several minutes later, they tied up the game when Carli managed to stay in an onside position just outside of the box. She quickly dribbled the ball in, drawing Hope off of her line enough to kick the ball past her into the goal. The blue team swarmed their captain, congratulating her on the goal against the keeper.

WIth the two teams tied, the game became more strategic, each player wanting to provide their team with the best opportunity to score. Well, everyone except for Tobin who continued to do what she did before by practically ignoring Christen’s existence. This insistence on trying to get Allie and Jessie to score instead of their best striker was keeping the team from scoring again.

At some point, the assistant coach blew the whistle to call Carli offsides but clouded in her anger and frustration, the mid chose to kick the ball anyway. This caught Hope off-guard as the keeper had been paying attention to their coaches. The ball smacked against the side of her face, causing her to fall to the ground. The impact of the ball sounded across the field and it was not two seconds before Kelley ran over to check on the tall girl who just looked a bit dazed.

After Hope managed to sit up, Kelley got up and made her way to their captain who stood where she had kicked the ball, staring at her ex-girlfriend with a blank expression. Kelley’s shouting brought her out of her daze, shifting her attention towards the defender instead.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Kelley yelled, walking up to the captain. “She blew the whistle! That means stop, not  _ kick  _ the damn ball!”

The entire team froze in their spots as they looked over towards Kelley and Carli who were now standing about two feet apart. They could see the way Carli’s jaw tensed as Kelley continued to shout at her. “She wasn’t even looking when you kicked the ball! God, for a captain, you  _ really _ suck at taking directions,” Kelley continued.

Carli couldn’t take it anymore. She had already had a bad enough weekend dealing with not only what happened after the game but also with her family. There was only so much she could tolerate right now and Kelley’s attack wasn’t one of those things.

“Well, for a defender, you really suck at  _ defending _ . What, were you too busy staring at my girlfriend to even notice I had the ball? Maybe if you were fast enough, you could’ve gotten to the damn ball before I even had a chance to kick it,” Carli tossed back. “Or hell, maybe if you weren’t flirting with Morgan instead of trying to play the game, this wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Are you fucking-... You’re seriously blaming me for  _ your _ stupidity? Hey, just because you’re captain and Rutgers, for  _ some _ reason, wants you to play for them doesn’t mean you can whatever the hell you want.”

Carli was stunned into silence, mostly due to her confusion about how Kelley knew about her Rutgers offer. Her gaze landed on the keeper who was being tended to in goal.  _ Of course _ , she thought, rolling her eyes. There was no reason for her to believe Hope could actually keep their issues between themselves.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t even notice that Ashlyn had jogged over from the other side of the field towards Kelley. Meanwhile, Tobin simply stood and watched, a blank expression on her face. Alex looked on, obviously worried for what was happening.

“What, you’re just going to stand there and say nothing?” Kelley said as she was being blocked off by Ashlyn.

“KO, hey. Calm down,” Ashlyn said, trying to stop the girl from making the situation worse.

“No, let her run her mouth. Seems like she’s better at that than actual soccer,” Carli said, letting out a scoff.

This didn’t sit well with Kelley judging by the way the girl immediately pushed back Ashlyn before stepping forward to shove Carli. The captain stumbled slightly before moving forward to retaliate. It was then the whistle was blown yet again and the coach began to yell.

“Alright, break it up!” she yelled out, drawing everyone’s attention to her again. “Lloyd, O’Hara. Get over here!” She gestured to where she was standing on the sidelines. “The rest of you, play the damn game!”

Carli and Kelley begrudgingly made their way to the side of the pitch as everyone else jogged back to their positions. The coach ordered the two of them to do laps around the field until they were told to stop and they followed instructions, taking off in different directions along the edge of the field to avoid having to run alongside one another.

For the rest of the team, the game continued. The trainer allowed Hope to continue playing after seeing that taking the ball to the face didn’t affect her too negatively. They tried not to let the sight of their captain and Kelley running around the field distract them from trying to score.

Unfortunately, the rest of practice wasn’t without incidence. Tobin was making her way up the side of the field when Alex ran up behind her for possession. She blocked off Tobin, keeping her eyes on the ball and anticipating the girl to perform one of her tricks to try and get around the girl.

“You know, I still remember when you told me that you and Kelley were so close you were basically sisters,” Alex started. “And here I thought sisters helped each other out.”

Her words caused Tobin to fumble a bit, allowing her to steal the ball. When she began to dribble the ball back up towards the goal. This didn’t sit well with Tobin, Alex’s comments adding on top of the anger she already held towards the girl. She sprinted after the girl, moving up behind the girl. Unfortunately, she let her emotions get the best of her and ends up fouling Alex, practically shoving her onto the ground to the get to the ball.

The whistle blew and Alex stared up at Tobin in disbelief. Tobin raised her hands up in surrender, a passive look on her face as if she hadn’t done anything wrong. Allie ran up to where the two were standing. She held a hand out to Alex which the forward took gratefully as she stood up. The forward jogged back over to her position on the field.

“What the hell was that, Tobin?” Allie asked, raising an accusatory brow at the girl. “You know this isn’t American football, right?”

“I was doing my job!” Tobin retorted defensively.

“As what, a wrestler?” Allie shot back before returning to her spot on the field.

The game concluded several minutes later with the blue team winning 2-1 after Mallory scored for the team. No one on the red team was happy with this result, especially not with Tobin who seemed to be taking the loss the hardest despite the fact that it was a scrimmage with her teammates. However, they knew it was likely that Christen or the coach would address the situation instead of them having to do it.

Tobin wasn’t unaware of the problems she had caused on the field, knowing that she hindered them from winning by completely ignoring Christen’s existence. She trudged back to the locker room, her cleats in her hands as she walked there barefoot. As soon as she arrived in front of her locker, she opened it and tossed her cleats inside before pulling out her bag and sifting through it to find suitable clothes to change into.

A slam against the locker beside hers caused her to jump in surprise. She craned her head around the door to see its source, meeting the very angry gaze of one Christen Press.

“What the hell, Tobin?! Not one ball!” Christen started.

“What are you talking about?” Tobin replied, feigning indifference.

“Don’t give me that crap, Heath! I was open so many times yet it was like I didn’t even  _ exist _ out there on the pitch. Not one ball, Tobin. You didn’t send me  _ one _ ball.”

The rest of the team had filled in at this point, barring Carli and Kelley who were presumably still running laps. With Carli outside, Becky was technically left on captain duties. However, while she thought to stop the fight, the look that Ashlyn gave her told her that Christen could sort this out with Tobin herself. Perhaps the forward could get through her thick skull.

“I thought Allie and Jessie were in better scoring opportunities,” Tobin tried, though it only resulted in an eye roll from Christen.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot the player who has two defenders on them had the better scoring opportunity than the one who didn’t,” Christen spit back. “You’re the reason we lost, Tobin! I could’ve scored if you just gave me the damn ball!”

“I was doing what I could!”

“Bullshit!”

“Oh, screw you.”

“No, Heath. Screw  _ you _ . I get it, alright? I get that you’re upset, that you’re pissed off at me. I don’t  _ care _ how upset you are with me or with Alex or with anyone else for that matter. When we play, you don’t let that affect us because this is a  _ team _ ,” Christen said. “You do still know what that is, don’t you?”

Tobin rolled her eyes. “Of course I know what a team is.”

“Then remember that you’re on one. I couldn’t care less if you never talk to me off the pitch, but the second you let it start affecting this game,  _ our _ game, you need to check yourself,” Christen said.

At this moment, Carli and Kelley were walking into the locker room after receiving something akin to a scolding. The room was empty save for Christen’s voice. Kelley caught onto the end of the sentence, stepping towards the forward and gently grasping her arm.

“Come on, Chris. Let’s go,” Kelley said, pulling the girl away from Tobin.

As she led the girl over to their lockers, she glanced back at Tobin who looked as if she had fallen into herself.

She knew that if there was anything Tobin hated messing up, it was the game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please pray for all those affected by the Colombia Plane crash consisting of the Chapecoense soccer team on their way to the Copa Sudamericana final.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apologies are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry it's a day late, but I honestly wasn't going to post this since I didn't have Chapter 11 done, but I figured since I'm on break now I won't take as long to write the next chapter. Therefore, you all get this chapter! It's a little short, but I think most of y'all will like it :) As always, thank you for reading and tell me what you think!

Back against the wall, Tobin anxiously waited for the team to exit the building, particularly Christen. After what happened in the locker room, Tobin sped through her usual post-practice ritual and hightailed it out of there. She had paused right outside the exit, her emotions finally not clouding her thoughts and it was then she realized that Christen was right about what she said. She had spent the next 20 minutes sitting on the ground, thinking about what she needed to say to Christen. She needed to apologize and she could admit that, pride never really having been one of her problems.

As she heard voices approaching, she stood up, her bag slung onto her shoulder as she waited for them to spot her. Kelley and Christen were walking out together, Kelley animatedly telling some story about the zoo and pulling out a laugh from the forward. The two paused in their step when they noticed Tobin standing there, both of them hesitant to be in that particular situation. Tobin tried not to let the hurt show when Kelley wrapped a protective arm around Christen and pulled her closer.

By the hard look on Kelley’s face, it was clear that her presence was not currently a welcome one. She internally sighed, realizing how hard this might be.

“Um...hi,” Tobin said, wincing at her own lacking eloquence.

The two girls continued to stand in front of her, though their expressions differed greatly. While Kelley gave her an annoyed look, as if to ask ‘what do you want’, Christen gave her a questioning look, obviously unaware of what Tobin was doing.

“I, uh… Chris, can we… talk?” Tobin stuttered out, her head ducked in embarrassment at her staggered ability to form words.

Kelley opened her mouth to speak, presumably to say no and tell the mid off, but Christen beat her to it.

“Oh. Uh, yeah,” Christen answered, nodding slightly. “Yeah, sure.”

Kelley turned her head to look at the forward incredulously. “Chris…”

“Kelley, it’s fine,” Christen responded, sending her a small smile. “I’ll be fine. Go, I’ll get a ride from JJ and I’ll come by your house tonight so we can work on that project.”

The shorter girl glanced between the two of them, her gaze focusing on Christen a little longer to ensure herself that she would be fine, before nodding her head. Giving Christen a small hug and sending Tobin a warning look, Kelley walked away. When she caught sight of Allie and Alex, she jogged to catch up to the two of them. Tobin couldn’t help the warm smile that spread on her face at the sight of how Alex lit up when Kelley tugged at her shirt before linking their arms together as they walked off toward the cars.

Christen watched Tobin’s expression, her shoulders falling just slightly when she saw her looking at Alex walking off. She shook off the feeling of jealousy that was beginning to spur inside her, knowing that it wouldn’t help the already precarious situation they were in. She cleared her throat to draw the mid’s attention back to her, her arms wrapping around herself as she tried to keep from focusing on the awkward position they were in.

Tobin quickly turned her head back to Christen, giving her a small smile. “Uh, well, I just… I...” The girl paused, her hand coming up to her head as she sighed in frustration at her lack of coherence.

“Tobin,” Christen said, her hand reaching out to the girl’s shoulder. “It’s okay.”

The mid shook her head, clearly distressed about the entire incident that occurred after practice as well as what she had done during practice. Having Christen stand there in front of her, a hand on her shoulder, telling her it was okay, she felt even worse for what she had done.

“I’m sorry,” Tobin said quietly. If Christen hadn’t been standing so close to her, she probably wouldn’t have even heard those two words but she did, softening immediately at the apology.

“Tobin, it’s fine. I’m-”

Tobin cut her off before she could attempt to comfort the girl. Shaking her head, she said, “No, Chris. It’s not. I shouldn’t have pulled that crap during practice, especially not this week. I know I said I wouldn’t let our problems get in the way of soccer, we both promised that last year and now I am and I shouldn’t have. I know that and I’m so sorry that I did today.”

Christen sent the girl a small smile, providing her with a look of understanding as she spoke.

“Tobin, really. It’s fine,” Christen said, shaking her head. “I get it.”

Tobin stared at the forward questioningly, as if she didn’t quite believe that she was being so forgiving.

“Why are you being so nice about this?” the mid asked.

Christen sighed, shrugging. “I don’t know. I guess I just… I know I kind of attacked you back in the locker room and it’s pretty easy to let our emotions get the best of us,” she said. Through all the years she’s known Tobin, she learned that she was the kind of person who had the tendency to let her emotions spill over at very inopportune times. This was due to her constant need to hold in her feelings and act calm, leading to moments where everything came spilling out at once.

Tobin nodded, her gaze having shifted towards the ground. By the time she met the forward’s eyes again, she mumbled, “But yeah. I just… needed to tell you that I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Christen replied. “For what happened inside.”

“No, I deserved that.”

“No, you didn’t, Tobin.”

“But I did. Really, don’t be sorry, Chris,” Tobin said. “I kind of needed it to get my head straight again.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

The two stood there awkwardly, their gazes locked on each other for several moments before a car horn pulled them out of their glances. They looked over towards the source of the noise, seeing JJ waving out the window.

“Um… I should go,” Christen said, shifting her attention back to Tobin.

The mid nodded, sending her a small smile. “Yeah, me too,” she replied.

Hesitantly, Christen leaned in and wrapped her arms around Tobin, which the mid slowly reciprocated. The forward was unable to help herself from sinking into the hug, immediately stepping closer to further relax in Tobin’s arms. Surprisingly, Tobin let her get comfortable in her hold, her eyes shutting as she relished in the feeling of having Christen in her arms again.

Unfortunately, the hug needed to end at some point and Christen slowly leaned back from the girl, giving her a shy smile before finally pulling herself out of the girl’s arms.

“See you tomorrow?” Christen hadn’t meant for the words to come out like a question, but she knew she needed to approach this tentatively.

Tobin nodded in answer as Christen walked slowly backwards towards JJ’s car. “See you tomorrow,” she agreed, providing a last wave as the girl got into the blonde’s car. She watched as JJ pulled away from the school, shoving her hands in her pockets after slinging her bag over her shoulder.

The mid turned towards her normal ride but then came to the realization that both Kelley and Alex were in Ashlyn’s car for a ride today. Despite the progress she had made with Christen just a few moments ago, she wasn’t sure about putting herself in that situation quite yet. Sighing, she mentally told herself she would walk the two miles home instead. As she began to take steps towards exiting school grounds, she reminded herself that at least the long walk alone would give her some time to think.

* * *

“Are you sure you don’t want a ride?” Becky asked, leaning against the row of lockers as she shot her friend a questioning look.

Nodding, Carli replied, “Yes, I’m sure. I’ll be fine.”

Becky sighed, pushing off of the lockers. “Okay,” she said. She knew why Carli wanted to stay behind and as much as she wanted to stop her friend from going to see Hope, she knew that she couldn’t. “Get home safe, okay?” She moved forward to give her friend a short hug before exiting the locker room.

Carli filled her bag with the last of her gear, shutting her locker before slinging her bag over her shoulder. She headed out of the locker room and towards the trainer’s room, pausing in the doorway. She stood there quietly, her eyes trained on Hope who was currently holding an ice pack against her face.

The trainer turned around to see Carli standing in the doorway. He stood, mumbling an excuse about talking to their coach and left the room. At his actions, Hope shifted her attention towards the doorway, her gaze landing on Carli. She pulled the ice pack off her face, giving her captain a confused look.

“Hey,” Hope said, watching as Carli stepped forward towards her.

The mid grimaced at sight of Hope’s red face, knowing that she hurt the girl out of anger.

“I just wanted to say sorry,” Carli said. She gestured to Hope’s face. “I shouldn’t have kicked it after the call.”

Hope noticeably relaxed at the girl’s words, shrugging. “It’s no big deal,” she said. “I’ve taken worse hits, you know?”

Both girl’s thoughts immediately went to a game in their sophomore year. Hope had taken a cleat to the face after diving for the ball. This resulted in her getting a concussion from the force of the impact as well as a nasty cut on her jaw that neither one of them thought would heal as well as it did. Carli had nearly punched the girl who had done it despite the fact that both of them knew it was a 50/50 ball and with Hope diving towards it  _ and _ the striker, she had left the girl no chance to back off.

“Doesn’t mean I’m not sorry,” Carli said. Despite her anger, and the way she was clearly aiming straight at Hope during the scrimmage, she never actually wanted to hurt the girl. After all, she still loved her and seeing her hurt only served to plague her with guilt and feel hurt as well.

“Okay,” Hope responded. “Thank you… for apologizing.” She ended the sentence slowly, the words being drawn out slightly.

It was awkward then. Carli stood there, shifting from foot to foot as she racked her brain for something else to say. Unfortunately, there was nothing else considering they weren’t even really on talking terms since what had transpired during the weekend. She hadn’t talked to Hope in days, opting instead to distract herself during the weekend with homework and soccer. She had even avoided Becky’s questions on the way home, not wanting to allow herself the opportunity to even think about the situation anymore.

Unfortunately, that all came crashing to an end the second she saw the keeper at practice. Seeing Hope in her practice gear had always caused her to do a double take, filling her heart with a sheer amount of adoration that the girl was all hers. Or at least,  _ was _ hers. So when she stepped onto the field, the keeper standing between the posts already as their goalkeeping coach kicked several balls towards her to block, she couldn’t help the way a loving smile spread across her face. 

To see Hope in her element was an incredibly beautiful thing to her. Ever since she had met the girl, she knew that she was an amazing player. However, being on the team brought her to a new level of understanding when it came to Hope Solo. Goalkeeping was the girl’s entire world. Blocking shots and making saves was everything she knew to do. And the closer the two became, the more Carli got to learn about Hope and her intense appreciation for what exactly it was she did for the team as their keeper. Carli learned that nobody really knew Hope Solo until they heard her speak about being a goalkeeper.

And Carli knew Hope well enough to assume that she wouldn’t necessarily be angry about the way the captain treated her during practice. Hope was the kind of person who felt as if she deserved the things that happened to her and as much as the mid wanted to change the way the keeper thought, she hadn’t yet been able to do so.

Breaking the silence, Carli cleared her throat, shrugging. “Well, yeah,” she said, beginning to step back to leave the room. “I should go. I just wanted to,” She gestured again to Hope’s face, “... yeah.”

From her seat, the keeper nodded in understanding. It was then she noticed the lack of a certain blonde defender around. Her brows furrowed. She hopped off the surface she was sitting on, stepping towards Carli. “Um…” she hesitated before asking, “do you need a ride?”

Carli, judging by the look on her face, didn’t expect such an offer to be made to her. “I… you don’t have to. It’s not that far a walk,” she answered, shaking her head. Even though the thought of walking the four miles would feel akin to death for Carli who had just run 10 laps around the track after being sent out of the scrimmage, she wasn’t sure how a car with Hope would end.

Releasing a scoff, Hope shook her head. “Yeah, but I’m sure you feel like dying right now after coach made you do laps, so I’m not taking no for an answer,” she said.

And really, how could Carli respond to that? The mid uncharacteristically replied in silence, simply nodding her head as a small, appreciate smile appeared on her face. She followed Hope towards the taller girl’s locker, waiting patiently as she packed her things into her practice bag and pulled her keys out.

The two walked out of the building, making their way to Hope’s pick up truck in comfortable silence. Hope instinctively opened the passenger door for Carli before moving around and jumping into the driver’s seat. She started the truck, hearing it roar to life before turning to Carli.

“You get to pick the station, but you better pick a good one,” Hope said, an almost challenging look on her face as she gestured towards the radio. Carli rolled her eyes, remembering the last time she had been allowed such an “honor” as Hope called it. It wasn’t her fault that the keeper wasn’t fond of popular music.

As Hope pulled out of the parking lot, she decided on an alternative music station, a good intersection of the music they listened to. However, their attention quickly shifted from the music towards each other as they somehow managed to strike up a conversation that didn’t make either of them want to run for the hills. So intense were their focuses on one another, neither of them noticed that Hope missed the turn for Carli’s neighborhood until several streets down.

“Shit, I missed it,” Hope said, finally noticing how far she had gone past the street. She glanced over at Carli. “Sorry.”

Carli simply shook her head. “No, it’s no problem,” she said. “I don’t mind.”

Hope was getting ready to shift into the left turn lane so that she could make a u-turn when instead she looked over at Carli. “Actually, do you have a lot to do today?” she asked.

Tilting her head in confusion, Carli shook her head slowly. “No… not really. Why?” she responded.

“... Do you want to get some food?” Hope looked at Carli worriedly, unsure whether or not the captain would agree to go with her.

In the passenger seat, Carli froze. It was another moment or two before she nodded.

“Yeah, sure,” she said. “I’m starving.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's game day against Charton High and the team wants nothing more than to win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, so I literally just finished writing this and I'm posting it now because one, I'm awake so why not, and two, I like giving y'all updates. This chapter doesn't have a lot of drama or anything, but I kind of like it because it's full of soccer and well, soccer's pretty f*ckin awesome, you know? Anyway, let me know what y'all think in the comments!

She slammed her hand down on the alarm clock, rolling over with a groan. Glancing over at the time displayed on the screen, she released a tired sigh. Having stayed up past two last night to finish up some homework, she realized exactly how terrible of an idea that was as she yawned while swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Either way, it was game day and she had to get to school.

Getting up, she headed over to her closet to grab her extra jersey, pulling it on as part of an agreement with the team to wear their jerseys to school. She put on a pair of sweats as her phone rang and seeing the time on the clock, she knew exactly who it was. She walked over to her dresser, picking up her phone and answering.

 _"_ _Hey, Solo. You better not be late today.”_

Hope rolled her eyes at the joking voice on the other end of the phone.

“C’mon, Car. That was one time,” Hope replied, moving around her room to gather her things. She slung her backpack over her shoulder before picking up her soccer bag as well. Reaching out, she took her keys from the dresser and made her way downstairs.

_“I’m just making sure.”_

“And out of all the days, you thought I would be late _today_?” Hope asked, arriving at the bottom of the steps. She heard a clattering in the kitchen, causing her to furrow her brows in confusion.

_“Okay, good point. You would never be late on a day this important. I just wanted to make sure since you stayed up pretty late last night.”_

“How do you kn-“

Walking over, she stopped speaking at the sight of her mom, Judy, hunched over the stove as the eggs she was cooking sizzled in the pan. The shock on her face was obvious as her mother greeted her with a smile.

“Mom,” she let out, still holding the phone to her ear.

“Hey, sweetie. I didn’t know you were here,” her mother said.

“I… live here?” Hope replied, completely forgetting about Carli speaking into her ear.

 _“Hope, what’s going on? Do you want me to go?”_ Carli said, but Hope’s attention was elsewhere.

“Yes, I know you do,” her mom replied, “but I thought you were staying over with Kelley for a while.”

“Oh.” Hope shrugged. “Uh, I came back home last night.”

“I can see that,” her mom threw back teasingly. “Who’re you on the phone with?”

“Wh-“ Hope finally noticed she was still holding her phone to her ear. “Oh, it’s-“ She then realized the lack of a voice speaking on the other side, finally pulling it away to see that Carli had ended the call. “Well, it _was_ Carli.”

“You two are talking again? That’s good. I’m glad,” her mom commented.

“Yeah, we’re... we are,” Hope responded, not quite knowing what else to say about the situation.

“Well, are you in a rush? I can make you some breakfast.”

“Uh, actually, I should get going. I told Carli I’d pick her up this morning,” Hope said, right before a tone sounded, signaling a notification on her phone.

Her eyes glanced down at the screen.

 **_New message from Dear Friend Carli:_ ** _Hey, change of plans. Becky’s giving me a ride. You don’t need to come anymore._

A confused expression overtook her face. Just minutes ago Carli had been telling her not to be late and now Becky was driving her instead.

“Change of plans. Carli… doesn’t really need a ride anymore,” Hope said, typing a quick ‘ok see you at school’ text before setting her phone down on the counter. Her mom gave a hum of acknowledgement.

Letting out a sigh, Hope moved towards the fridge. “Do we have any bacon?” she asked, causing her mom letting out a chuckle as she moved behind her daughter to open the freezer, pulling out the newly bought package of bacon.

* * *

 

“Hey, thanks for picking me up,” Carli said, hopping into Becky’s car.

“No problem,” Becky replied. “You know I don’t mind, but I thought you were getting a ride from-“

“Nope,” Carli quickly said, cutting off her co-captain. “Uh… Judy’s home this morning, so I thought I’d… give them some time together.” It was a lie. A blatant lie. In reality, while she did want to give Hope time with her mother, there was a different reason she chose to deny a ride from the keeper this morning.

While on the phone, she had heard Hope’s mother, Judy, mention Hope staying over at Kelley’s house. Ever since Kelley’s house last week, she had wondered exactly how familiar Hope was with the place. Now she knew.

Unfortunately, despite the bit of progress Hope and her had gone through in the past couple of days regarding speaking and acting friendly once again, Carli still hated to think of Kelley and Hope together. She knew that if she let Hope see her that morning, when so many thoughts and images were still running through her head, it would result in her becoming too frustrated and likely saying something to the girl something she would regret.

“Oh. Okay,” Becky replied, though she didn’t seem to convinced by her best friend’s words. However, she didn’t want to agitate her co-captain more, not on such an important day. Instead, she’ll place the focus towards soccer. That was always a safe bet.

“You ready for the team meeting?”

"Yeah,” Carli answered, nodding. “Definitely.”

She already knew that their coach wanted her and Becky to address the team and get the hyped for the upcoming game that evening. It provided a good opportunity for them to state what their goals were for the night when it came to playing against their rival team. While she may not have planned out a particular speech, she knew what she wanted to say already. The captain planned on making it crystal clear how focused they had to be that day and especially during the game. There were to be no distractions and drama getting in the way of the game, despite the way she currently felt about Hope.

"And the game?” Becky inquired.

As a senior, it was her last year to play against Charton High, a team that had earned their place as Millington High’s rivals, at least when it came to their soccer team. And this game was almost the most important one of the year. After having lost in the past two years, Carli felt more than ready for the opportunity to take on the team once again. As far as she was concerned, all of her training and hard work was simply leading up to the moment she would help the team win against Stonewall.

The midfielder smirked. “More than ready.”

* * *

 

Tobin ran into the front of the school, quickly making her way towards the gym to get to the locker rooms where their coach had decided to hold a team meeting this morning. Unfortunately, she had woken up past her alarm and was now well on her way to showing to the meeting late despite the fact that she had forgone eating breakfast and grabbed her things before practically sprinting out of her house. She had never felt so grateful to live only a half mile from the school, allowing her to get there in as little as five minutes.

She arrived at the meeting only a few minutes late, though everyone else had already taken a place in the locker room. She spotted Christen sitting by JJ on the bench, the brunette catching her eye and motioning her over. Since Monday’s practice, the two have made some progress regarding their off-the-field relationship. For one, Tobin no longer addressed the forward with an uncomfortable smile, her expressions instead taking on a more natural, relaxed look as she would give her a small smile of acknowledgement. They were nowhere near what they had been before everything happened, but she at least stopped refusing to speak to her.

Meanwhile, on the field, Tobin managed to push past all of her thoughts and feelings regarding Christen and Alex and instead focused her energy on getting them the balls when she could. Being able to play the ball up and connect with the forwards would allow for their best chances to win their games. The game today was an important one and she knew that there was no time during practice to hold grudges.

“Alright, now that _everyone’s_ here, we can get this started,” their coach said, giving Tobin a pointed look to which the mid replied with a sheepish smile before she moved towards Ashlyn and Ali who stood against a wall of lockers. As she glanced around the room, she noticed Kelley and Alex sitting on another bench facing their captains who had walked up to the front to address the team.

Becky went first, knowing that Carli would probably take the brunt of what should be a motivational speech for the players. “Alright, as you all know, today is our first game of the season and it’s against Charton High. For the past two years, we have played our hearts out on that field only to come up short, but I have no doubt that this year, _this_ team has what it takes to win against them. For us seniors, it’s our last chance to show this team what we’re made of and for the rest of you, it’s your chance to show them what they have to fear in the future,” she said, looking out over the faces of her teammates.

Carli nodded along to her words, her gaze completely focused on her co-captain in order to keep her mind on the upcoming game. The entire team was there and as much as she wanted to look towards a certain keeper, she needed to keep her thoughts in game mode. She then turned her head to speak to her teammates once Becky finished. “I know that there’s a lot of pressure with this being the first game of the season and them being our rivals. But like Becky said, you’re all capable of being the best out there today. Now, I’m planning to save a lot of the really inspirational stuff for later on right before the game,” Carli said, earning a laugh from her fellow teammates, “but I want you all to know that we’re proud of you and all of the work you’ve put in. For now, I’m just going to say to relax today. Don’t stress out about this game because the more you do, the more anxiety that’ll cause. Just focus on getting through the day and then put your energy into your playing your best during the game.”

Their coach nodded her head before gesturing to all of them to create something resembling a huddle. They wrapped their arms around one another as they stood in a circle, doing one of their pregame chants to get them all in the team spirit and for some people, to wake themselves up. After that, they were dismissed and they filed off towards their lockers and class.

Dressed in their extra jerseys, they went about their days as they normally would, but many of their classmates noticed the air around the team was different.

 _Game day_.

* * *

After school, the team headed into the locker room to grab their things before filing out onto the bus. Most had earphones in, trying to get into game mode. Some chose to speak with their friends, but for the most part, the bus ride was quiet.

With their rivalry game being an away game, it made it that much more important for them to win. After all, what better way to win a rivalry than on your opponent’s own soil? However, this made it that much harder because it meant that a large majority of the crowd would be supporting Charton. Nevertheless, they focused their thoughts on working as hard as they could to win.

When they arrived at Charton, they headed wordlessly into the locker room, getting changed into their away kits. They gathered together one last time before they needed to get on the field to warm up.

This time, Becky allowed Carli to take over as their speaking captain, knowing she had a lot more to say than she did.

“Alright, like I said this morning, I left the more motivational stuff for right now. I know you’re all anxious and even excited for this game and I can understand why. Charton has an amazing program and they have never not put up a fight against us for at least as long as I’ve played against them. They’re a good team, a great one, actually,” Carli explained. “But I think we’re better. We’ve trained and practiced hard over the past month and I have no doubt in my mind that we can be the best team out there today. Forget about the pressure and the people in the stands. I want you all to go out there and play your best game because once you’re out on that field, everything that matters is what happens there. And no matter what, don’t forget to have fun,” Carli said with a smile.

Following that, the team headed out onto the field for warm-ups. It was around 10 minutes later when their coach finally announced who would be on the starting lineup. Instead of following a 4-4-2 structure like their previous game, she chose a 4-3-3, deciding that putting both Alex and Christen at the top with Mallory would relieve the freshman forward of some pressure as well as allow them options to create chances.

The starters lined up and walked out onto the field, Carli with the captain armband leading them. Following the national anthem, the speaking captains moved to midfield to speak shortly with the referees. Everyone could feel the tension in the air as they returned back to their teams.

 They took their places on the field, Hope standing in goal behind Ali, Whitney, Becky, and Kelley’s backline. In front of them were Tobin, Carli and Allie with Christen, Alex, and Mallory up to. With Charton on the ball first, they began the game in a defensive mindset.

The game was brutal. In some ways, the team liked to compare it to US v Canada Women’s soccer game. Both teams were aggressive as they fought for possession. Fouls were committed left and right, though no cards were shown yet as tackles were relatively well timed. Players on both sides struggled to get balls up and past the backline, but they took the chances they were given. Unfortunately, all of those shots were saved by the team’s keepers.

By the time the whistle was blown at the half, the players were tired and drained. Those who have seen their shots saved again and again were incredibly frustrated and both teams entered the locker rooms slowly, their energy having been shot by the first half. Carli looked just about as tired as the rest of the team, if not more. Their coach couldn’t help but sigh at the sight of her players looking so defeated.

“Alright, everyone. Listen up,” their coach said, garnering everyone’s attention. “I know the first half was tough, but there’s still 45 minutes left to play out there. Now, I saw a little bit of miscommunication in midfield, but I’m sure our captain can make sure that doesn’t happen in the next half.” She looked pointedly at Carli whose shoulders straightened as she nodded. “As for the backline, keep up the good work. The more you can keep them into our defending third, the less of a chance they have at scoring. Hope, you made some great saves out there. Stay focused and I have no doubt you can do the same in the second half. As for attacking, I need my forwards to stay sharp, alright? Mids, you’re doing a great job at finding spaces to put the ball up, especially you, Tobin.” The mid simply nodded in appreciation for the comment. “Find those spaces, take those chances. Their keeper is good, but I know you can get those balls past her. I believe in all of you.” The coach allowed her words to sink in for a few more seconds before allowing Carli and Becky to take her spot up front.

Carli let out a sigh before speaking. “Alright, it’s been a rough game out there. It’s obvious they’re pretty aggressive, but we have been, too. Their backline is good, but I’ve seen us create amazing chances that we need to finish on. You’ve all been playing your best and I know how disheartening it is to come back to the locker room scoreless. But like coach said, there are still 45 minutes left to play in this game and anything can happen, but we have to work to make things happen. What I said at the beginning of the game still applies. They’re a good team, but we’re better. We’re more conditioned and more technically skilled on the ball than they are from what I’ve seen. Endurance, stamina, that’s a large part of the game and we have incredible ones. When we go back out there, I want everyone to play their best because I know we can win this. Leave it all out there and you’ll have no regrets when you step off.”

Becky nodded, a small smirk even coming to her face. “We’ve got this,” she said before huddling together with the rest of the team. They threw out a chant to hype themselves up, filling themselves with energy they would need for the rest of the match. By the time they stepped out onto the field again, Jessie and JJ subbing in for Mallory and Whitney accordingly, they had a brand new, steely look of determination in their eyes and a newfound energy. It was clear in the way they began that they wanted to win.

Unfortunately, the beginning of the second half played out much like the first half. More fouls were called and practically every player on the pitch was covered in dirt at that point. Right around the 58th minute, Ali was shown a yellow card, much to the dismay of the Millington bench who groaned in disagreement. It was given after an unfortunate bad tackle right outside the box. The free kick provided forced Hope to make an amazing save, followed by a clearance by JJ.

At the 60th minute, Moe was subbed in for Allie, quickly taking her place in midfield and a look of determination to make a difference. In the next five minutes, Millington acquired possession of the ball, which was currently at Tobin’s feet. The mid was obviously skillful with the ball, managing to nutmeg a defender before another comes at her with an extreme tackle. The referee blew the whistle, pulling out a yellow card for the offending player to which Charton’s players verbally disagreed. One even walked over to help their teammate out, stating their case for why the foul shouldn’t be a yellow. Carli decided to join in, claiming that such a violent move should be a red card. Their arguments were left unheard as the referee shook her head and proceeded to tell them to return to their positions.

Meanwhile, Tobin had ended up on the ground, clutching her leg with a pained expression on her face. Christen didn’t hesitate to jog over to the spot, followed by Kelley and Alex. Her eyes were shut tightly, as she tightly held onto her leg. Several seconds later, the trainer appeared to lead Tobin off the field, hopping on one leg. The coach chose Lindsey to sub in for her, the girl patting Tobin on the shoulder before she ran onto the field to take her place at the 68th minute. Kelley, Alex, and Christen both refocused their thoughts on the game, all three much more resolved to win this game.

However, the game somehow became more violent after that, thought it was more from Millington than Charton. In their minds, nobody messed with their teammates like that. Despite their best efforts, unfortunately, Charton got an advantage on Millington at the 72nd minute, leading to a goal to put their rivals up one. The crowd went wild for their players as the ball hit the back of the net, their striker giving Hope no chance to stop the near post goal.

The team became dejected at the possibility of losing to their rivals after such a hard fought game, so they work harder. Although, this approach caused them to obtain more fouls and even a yellow for Carli after a mistimed tackle to shut down an attack in their defending third. At the 77th minute, Kelley was subbed out for Emily. She limped off the field, the pain from the game finally catching up to her now that the adrenaline had mostly worn off. Hope moved up to the top of the box to give her a fist bump and the two share a smile. Sonnett ran on to replace Kelley after the two share a low five. Kelley trusted the sophomore to hold her own for the rest of the game.

The game started up again, Millington controlling the ball possession more. And at the 81st minute, something amazing occurred. Following a shot from Christen that was easily caught, Charton’s goalkeeper unfortunately didn’t catch the ball right for her goal kick. With this unfortunate, and rare, kick, Alex gained control of the ball, already having sped past the two defenders. The keeper had returned to her line only to come off it again in order to try and cut down the striker’s angles, but Alex isn’t faze, slotting it past the keeper and into the goal at the 82nd minute. Her teammates cheered, running up and congratulating her for getting them on the board. She received a hug from both Christen and Carli as the rest came up to congratulate her.

Quickly, the referees started the game up again. For the next eight minutes, both teams tried desperately to score the game winner. A chance for another goal appeared at the 90th minute as Tobin kicked a perfect through ball to Christen who ran it up the field. A Charton defender, however, quickly came to slide tackle the ball from the forward, earning Millington a corner kick. With three minutes of stoppage time, Ali set up the ball at the corner flag for likely one of, if not, their last chances at goal.

The whistle blew and at the 91st minute, Ali took the kick. The box was filled with Millington players, all of them looking to head the ball into the goal. With the ball in the air, Emily came up to head it in, but the keeper just barely managed to push it away. Unfortunately, with the box packed, Charton’s defense was left scrambling and unable to clear the ball, opening up the opportunity for Carli to get to it, slamming it into the back of the net as the keeper tried a late dive to stop the ball.

The cheers from the team were deafening, everybody gathering around Carli to congratulate her on her, likely, game winning goal. Hope practically sprinted from goal on the other side of the field to wrap the mid up in a tight hug, almost lifting her up off the ground. The bench was ecstatic, including Kelley, whooping and hollering for their captain.

There was less than a minute left in the game, the team quickly hurrying to their positions to prevent any possibility of Charton claiming to have used up too much time. When the final whistle blew, everybody once again gathered around Carli, those on the bench running towards her to surround their captain for her game winning goal. Tobin and Kelley were a little slower getting there, limping over to the group together as they celebrate their momentous win against their rivals.

Following their celebration, they shook hands with the other team before gathering together again. After several minutes, their coach walked up to pull Carli away from the excited group. Hope was unable to keep from watching her ex-girlfriend as their coach introduced her to a scout from Rutgers, judging by the shirt and hat he was sporting, likely the same one she had been in contact with during their summer. She tried not to let the sight of Carli’s blindingly excited smile hurt, but nothing could stop the pain her chest as she watched the two converse. She felt herself pulled back into the celebration by a familiar touch, glancing down at Kelley as the two shared a small moment. Kelley’s infectious smile got to her, causing her to emit one of her own as she joined in the team celebrations, genuinely happy about the result of the game.

Half an hour later, they’re changed out of their jerseys and loading up on the bus. The ride back home was filled with cheers and chants and even singing.

They did it.

They won.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team celebrates their win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, wow this has been a long time coming. I have finally finished this chapter. Believe it or not, I've been writing this thing for almost two weeks. I got sick and couldn't write anything more than a sentence and I've recently had some issues with figuring out what to write. Hopefully, y'all like it. It's kind of longer than usual, so hopefully y'all like that, too. As always, thank you for keeping up with this. I'm sorry that I'm not getting updates out as fast as I wanted, but I'm working on it. Anyway, as always, enjoy the read and let me know what y'all think!

The team arrived back at the school, still buzzing with excitement and pride after winning the game. Not only had they won their first game of the season, they had also beat their rivals after the two previous years’ hard losses. In order to celebrate properly, they decided to head over to a local restaurant in their town they often visited.

A half hour later, after they’ve freshened up to their hearts’ desire, they split up into different groups since there were really only four players who actually drove their car to school. Christen predictably went to JJ’s car, followed by Mallory, Jessie, and Tobin while Becky ushered Allie, Emily, Moe, and Lindsey into her car. Ashlyn and Ali headed towards Ashlyn’s Jeep, followed by Alex, Kelley, and Whitney who somehow managed to squeeze into the backseat. This left Carli with Hope, which the keeper was slightly unprepared for since she still wasn’t quite sure how to act around the girl, especially with the way she was currently feeling at seeing Carli with the Rutgers scout.

In short, the car ride was awkward, Hope not really providing substantiated enough responses to keep a long conversation. Nevertheless, Hope congratulated the captain once again on her game-winning goal and Carli responded with praise for the keeper’s saves, but the short conversation didn’t stray past the subject of soccer. It was nearly obvious the way that Hope breathed a sigh of relief once she pulled into a parking spot, quickly hopping out of the vehicle and around to the other side to open Carli’s door for her. The mid smiled in thanks before the two of them walked inside the establishment, managing to quickly obtain a table for the 17 of them.

Carli took the seat at the head of table, to no one’s surprise. As co-captain, Becky chose not to take the other end, instead taking the seat to Carli’s right. Unfortunately, much to her chagrin, Hope sat down on Carli’s other side, the keeper and the mid making eye contact as Hope sent her a grin. It was tradition, after all, for the two of them to sit next to one another since they had become friends and nothing was going to break that tradition.

The more surprising moment was when Kelley didn’t take the empty seat next to Hope. Instead, she plopped down in the seat to Christen’s left, the seat the forward had actually been saving for JJ in assumption that Kelley would sit to her right by Hope. Kelley then pulled Alex to sit next to her, followed by Allie and then Tobin.

Whit took the open seat by Becky and Ashlyn followed, sitting by Whitney after pulling out Ali’s seat beside her. Jessie and Mallory follow, sitting across Alex and Allie. The last to take their seats were the trio of Moe, Emily, and Lindsey. Unfortunately for Lindsey, Moe and Emily occupied the last two seats on one side of the table, leaving her to sit beside Tobin on the other side.

“What, am I not good enough for you, Horan?” Tobin joked after seeing Lindsey sigh in disappointment. The sophomore’s cheeks were quick to redden as the team chuckled in response.

After ordering their drinks, the team quickly split among themselves into their own conversations. Hope and Carli fell into easy conversation, the sight a large contrast from what had occurred during the car ride. Perhaps the awkwardness of the car ride had provided the keeper with enough time to steer her focus away from the Carli and the Rutgers scout. Becky watched curiously from her own seat, taking a sip of her water.

Kelley and Alex also seemed to be conversing, much to the interest of Tobin and Christen. The two were both watching the pair with interest, unfortunately leading to an awkward moment of eye contact which Christen reacted to with a shy grin. Tobin couldn’t help but send her a smile back before turning her attention to Allie instead, quickly striking up a conversation with her about their win as well as her plans for the weekend.

When the waitress stopped at their table again, there was barely any pause as they ordered their food, most of them knowing their routine appetizers and entrees when it came to a post-game dinner. The waitress was barely fazed by the long list of items, having gotten used to the different sports teams showing up and practically ordering half the kitchen’s stock after a game. Meanwhile, Mallory and Jessie’s eyes widened at hearing the order read back to them, both of them wondering how it was possible for them to finish all of that food. Ali caught their expressions out of the corner of their eye, chuckling and garnering everyone’s attention.

“Don’t worry. At least half of that is just for Kelley, Ashlyn, and Tobin,” she joked, causing the rest of the team to laugh at a funny, but true statement. Tobin rolled her eyes at the jab, taking a sip of her water while Kelley barely paid the other defender any attention, simply drinking her usual chocolate milk and conversing with Alex. However, Ashlyn turned to the girl with a mock offended look on her face, one which the defender quickly removed with a gentle kiss to her cheek. The action didn’t go unnoticed by some of the players, a smile gracing their faces at the sight.

At the end of the table, Carli was telling Hope and Becky a story about one of her classes. While Becky listened intently, Hope had begun to space out, not because the story was uninteresting or because she didn’t want to listen, but because she had gotten lost in her own thoughts.

“And so Mrs. Graff looked so ready to just tear this girl’s head off for the way she was talking back and you could just see her gripping her desk. Honestly, I thought she was going break her desk in half or something, she was gripping it so hard,” Carli continued.

Hope was trying her hardest to just enjoy their win and talking to her best friend again. Her mind had a different idea. It continued to play the image of Carli speaking with the Rutgers scout over and over again in her head. She couldn’t help the feeling of sadness that washed over her at the reminder that this was their last year of high school and that they would very likely be going their separate ways at the end of it. Nevertheless, she shook herself out of it and attempted to put up the façade of being engaged in the conversation, throwing in a comment here and there as to not alert either player of how far her thoughts had strayed.

A little bit down the table, Kelley and Alex haven’t taken their attention away from each other. Kelley was currently entertaining the forward with a story about her, Ashlyn, and Tobin going surfing together.

“And then Tobin just completely wipes out,” Kelley continued, “but the worst part was that Ash was paddling towards another wave and Tobin just crashes right into her.” The defender chuckled at the memory, drawing out a laugh from Alex as well.

Tobin tried not to listen in the conversation, focusing her attention on Lindsey, Emily, and Moe instead. However, she grew curious after hearing her name, raising a brow as she attempted to hear Kelley over the chatter of the table.

“So then their heads just kind of pop out of the water and of course, Ash was pissed as hell because she had been looking forward to riding a nice wave all day and Tobin completely ruined that for her. Next thing I know – I’m paddling over to them at this point after finally getting a hold of myself after laughing my ass off – Ash is trying to push Tobin’s head underwater and the two of them are fighting and I had to stop them.” Kelley rolled her eyes, releasing a dramatic sigh. “Honestly, if I left those two alone, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them ended up killing the other.”

“You know, I never really saw you as the peacekeeping type,” Alex responded. “I always figured you would be the one starting things, actually.”

Kelley’s jaw dropped in mock offense. “I am but an innocent child, Miss Morgan,” she replied indignantly, causing Alex to laugh.

“Alright, alright. Sorry. I take it back,” the forward relented, raising her hands in defeat.

“Oh, tell her about that time Ashlyn punched Tobin in the face,” Allie said, jumping into the conversation.

Tobin just rolled her eyes at the blonde’s suggestion, turning away from them to give her attention to the other trio. She even tossed out a joke at Lindsey’s expense causing the two Georgia girls to laugh while Kelley’s animated voice cut through the air.

The food arrived at the table shortly after, cutting off all chatter as the energy drained athletes dug into their food. Some came up for air after a few minute and continued their conversations, but most just focused on getting food into their system. Tobin sat quietly, eating her food in peace until Allie nudged her and struck up a conversation.

To Allie’s right, Alex couldn’t help the amused laugh that escaped her lips at the sight of Kelley trying to bite into a large burger.

“What?” Kelley asked, mouth full of said burger, causing Christen to wince at the sight.

“Ew. Chew and swallow, Kel. You’re gross,” Christen said, nudging her gently as she shook her head.

Kelley rolled her eyes, chewing and swallowing before pointedly looking at Christen to prove her actions. She turned back to face Alex, still holding her seemingly giant burger. “So what were  _ you _ laughing at?” she asked, taking another relatively small bite.

“Nothing,” Alex said, though it was obvious she was trying to prevent emitting another chuckle.

“Tell me. I want to know what’s so funny,” Kelley urged after properly swallowing her bite.

“Really, it’s nothing,” Alex tried again but at the look Kelley shot her, she sighed. “Okay, fine. I was just thinking that you look like one of those kids that finally gets to order, like, a grown up burger instead of from kids’ menu?”

The defender’s mouth fell open in shock while those who had heard Alex laughed at Kelley’s expense.

“It’s just… you look so small and the burger looks really big when you’re trying to eat it,” the forward attempted to justify her words, shrugging as a teasing grin appeared on her face.

“I’m… just going to pretend you didn’t say any of that and continue to let you eat _ my _ fries,” Kelley said through another mouthful of burger, causing Christen to nudge her again.

Alex simply smiled and took another fry, popping it into her mouth.

“See, Alex, you say she looks small compared to that burger, but honestly, I’ve seen her eat three of those and still be hungry,” Ashlyn threw out. “She’s got a black hole for a stomach, I’m pretty sure.” The girls around them chuckled and nodded in agreement and Kelley rolled her eyes.

She swallowed down her bite with a sip of her chocolate milk before speaking. “First of all, it was  _ two _ and that was only because  _ Tobito _ over there left us for a ‘better plans’  _ after _ ordering,” she explained. Alex, Kelley, and Ashlyn all looked over towards Tobin who had heard her name and was now sporting a sheepish expression.

“What?” she responded, shrugging. “I had to go somewhere.”

“Mhm.  _ Anyway _ , we were out all morning doing… I don’t even really know what, so I was hungry and I ate the burger she ordered,” Kelley finished.

“Doesn’t change the fact that you ate an entire bag of chips when we got back to your place,” Ashlyn responded, shrugging.

“It wasn’t a  _ full _ bag of chips,” Kelley said, garnering a raised brow from Ashlyn, “… and I was still a little hungry.”

Alex laughed at the almost ‘told you so’ expression on Ashlyn’s face. Seeing Ali nudge her girlfriend and shoot her a look, the forward turned her attention back to Kelley. The two made comments to one another as they ate, Kelley devouring her burger while Alex finished off lettuce wraps.

A half hour later, the athletes were stuffed, most of them clutching their stomachs after all of the food they had consumed. Carli decided it was probably the best time to address the team and stood at the head of the table. Clearing her throat, she drew her teammates’ attention to her.

“I just wanted to congratulate all of you on our win today,” Carli began. “I know there was a lot of pressure and anxiety when it came to this game because it was our season opener and against Charton, of all places, but we went out there today and beat them, something we haven’t done in the past couple of years. All of your hard work paid off and I think I can honestly speak for the three of us seniors when I say: thank you. I know this doesn’t really guarantee us a championship or anything, but to be able to say that we finally got to beat Charton feels amazing, so thank you for that. We had a big win tonight and I’m proud of us.”

The team cheered for their victory, elated expressions on their faces as Becky nodded.

The co-captain then stood, signalling for them to quiet down slightly.

“Just as Carli said, I’m proud of us. We’re proud of all of you. You’ve worked incredibly hard during preseason and it paid off,” Becky said. “But I think we need to have a round of applause for our captain, Carli Lloyd, who scored the game winner today.” Again, the girls whooped and hollered, this time for their captain. Their noise garnered the attention of some other patrons of the restaurant, though it wasn’t any bad attention. After all, the restaurant was a popular place for the students to hang out in, so they were relatively accustomed to the post game chatter of a team.

Hope couldn’t help but showcase her own proud smile towards their captain, one that only widened when Carli turned to look at her. Their gazes locked and Carli’s cheeks flushed at the sight of the expression on her ex-girlfriend’s face. The keeper smirked at seeing the girl’s reaction to her. While the two shared that moment, Becky finished up her own little congratulatory speech.

The captains sat down and the dinner went on, some people opting to share desserts like Alex and Kelley after the defender convinced her that it would be a lot healthier if they  _ shared _ it instead of Kelley eating it by herself.

“Please, Lex?” Kelley had asked, a hopeful smile on her face. “You don’t want me to consume all those calories by myself, do you?” The words were said in a similar tone to a small child asking for a toy for Christmas and when Kelley added on a pout, Alex couldn’t help but give into the girl, finally releasing a defeated sigh and nodding her head.

A triumphant grin appeared on the smaller girl’s face as she fist pumped the air for her victory. Rolling her eyes, Alex shoved at the girl’s shoulder, almost pushing her out of her chair, much to Ashlyn and Christen’s amusement. When their dessert order arrived, a molten lava cake topped with vanilla ice cream, Alex’s eyes widened. Due to constantly playing and training for soccer, most of her meals consisted of healthy food items, usually the things that made up the bottom half of the food pyramid. It was rare for her to enjoy desserts during the season, so this was definitely a weird occurrence.

Nevertheless, she dug in after Kelley gestured for her to take the first bite. A delighted moan left Alex’s lips at the taste of the dessert, the defender raising an amused brow at her.

“This is amazing!” Alex commented, already going for a second bite and causing Kelley to laugh.

“Have you never had one of these before?” Kelley asked, going for a bite herself.

Alex shook her head, swallowing down another bite. “No, I normally don’t really eat this kind of stuff during the season and well, since I play and train as much as I do, my season is more or less a year-round kind of thing,” she explained, to which Kelley nodded in understanding. The two carried on eating the rest of the cake in mostly silence aside from a few comments here and there.

Becky observed the interaction between Hope and Carli taking place in front of her. It was clear that the two of them were still not together yet, at least that’s what she assumed based on the fact that both of them were still relatively hesitant when it came to their touches. Carli’s hand looked to be almost twitching inches away from Hope’s as they spoke, probably aching to reach out and take the keeper’s hand in hers. However, the mid restrained herself, unsure of how the action would be taken and they were still at a very precarious place in their relationship.

Nevertheless, the defender could see that they were doing better than they had been just a week prior. On one hand, she still wasn’t a fan of the “great Hope Solo”. But on the other hand, she just wanted her best friend to be happy. She just didn’t trust that happiness to come with a minimal amount of pain.

Once she saw a noticeable lull in their conversation, Becky quickly made a move to interject in their conversation.

“So who was that after the game today, Carli? Was that the scout from Rutgers?” Becky asked, catching her friend off guard. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched for Hope’s reaction to her words. It was obvious that the topic still wasn’t a comfortable one judging by the way the keeper tensed up at hearing ‘Rutgers’ come out of her mouth. In contrast, Carli’s face almost lit up at the mention of the school as she nodded.

“Yeah, they said they were going to try to make it to the game today but I actually didn’t know if they would, so that was crazy,” Carli answered, turning her attention towards her co-captain.

“So what’d he want to talk to you about? Did he make an offer or… what?” Becky inquired, genuinely curious about her best friend’s current status with the school.

Hope watched as Carli’s eyes shined talking about Rutgers. She made an attempt to plaster on a smile but she couldn’t help but let her mind regress to what had happened several months ago.

 

_ “So…” Hope started, drawing her girlfriend’s attention off of the textbook she had stuffed her nose in a half hour earlier. She smiled as she met Carli’s gaze, unable to help herself. _

_ “So what?” Carli asked, her own grin appearing. _

_ “Well, I’ve been talking to the University of Washington and…” Hope trailed off, though the excitement was pretty obvious in her. _

_ “And…?” Carli pried, nudging the girl slightly. “C’mon, tell me.” _

_ “Okay, so they’re willing to offer me a pretty great scholarship,” Hope responded. _

_ “Really? That’s great!” Carli replied, beaming proudly at her. “That’s… That’s amazing!” _

_ “Yeah, it’s… and well, they said that I could even end up in the starting lineup by the end of my first year if I keep going the way I am,” Hope stated with pride, straightening up slightly. _

_ “That is… beyond great. I’m so happy for you, babe,” Carli said, leaning over to press a loving kiss on the keeper’s lips, one that was gratefully accepted and returned. _

_ “It’s… surreal. Like, I just didn’t expect it, you know?” _

_ “Hope, you’ve been working for this since day 1. You deserve this,” Carli said, bringing a hand up to cradle her girlfriend’s cheek. “I’m so  _ so _ proud of you.” _

_ Hope smiled, leaning forward to peck the girl’s lips. “God, I love you,” she breathed out, a cheesy grin appearing on her face. “You know that, right?” _

_ “Mhm.” Carli nodded, kissing the girl’s cheek. “And I love you, too.” _

_ “Obviously. I’m pretty great,” Hope joked, causing the other girl to shove her shoulder. _

_ The keeper quickly moved backwards in dramatic response but misjudged the amount of space left on the bed, causing her to fall on the ground. As a groan escaped her lips, the girl on the bed moved over to the edge, chuckling at the girl on the floor. _

_ A pout settled on Hope’s lips as she watched Carli above her laughing. _

_ “Aw, are you hurt, baby?” Carli cooed, obviously teasing her. _

_ “I can’t believe you’re laughing at me.” Hope moaned, the pout only deepening on her face. “You could at least help me up.” _

_ “But I’m so  _ tired _ ,” Carli responded, letting her head fall onto the bed. _

_ “But you  _ love _ me.” _

_ Releasing an exaggerated sigh, Carli lifted her head up to focus her gaze on Hope. Her eyes narrowed. “You’re lucky I love you,” she mumbled, leaning over to stick her hand out. _

_ “I know I am,” Hope said before taking Carli’s hand in hers. After a moment, she decided to take the opportunity to pull the girl down to her. _

_ Carli let out a little yelp as Hope tugged her down, but the keeper managed to soften her landing enough to keep from hurting both of them. The mid raised her head to meet Hope’s gaze, ready to give her an earful for what she just did. _

_ “I’m the luckiest person in the world to be loved by you,” Hope whispered. The words caused Carli’s gaze to soften in response as she allowed the girl under pull her into a gentle kiss. _

_ Steadying herself above the girl, Carli deepened the kiss, supporting herself with her arms on either side of Hope’s head. However, the moment didn’t last for long as Carli began to chuckle. She pulled away from the kiss, resulting in Hope giving her a confused look. _

_ “I’m sorry,” Carli said, attempting to end her laughter. “That was just  _ really _ cheesy, babe.” _

_ Hope rolled her eyes, pushing at the girl’s chest. “Way to ruin the moment, Carls,” she sighed. _

_ “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself,” she chuckled, sitting up, still straddling Hope’s hips. She paused for a moment, looking down at the girl before her and feeling a rush of contentment run through her at the sight. “Alright, we need to study.” Moving off of her girlfriend, she finally helped the keeper up and the two resumed their positions on the bed. _

_ After several minutes of Hope idly flipping through her book and Carli pressing her face against her textbook once again, the keeper spoke up again. _

_ “So what about you?” she asked. _

_ “Hm?” _

_ “What about you? Uh… well, Washington said they talked to you, too, and I was just wondering if…” she trailed off, not really knowing how to end her sentence. _

_ “Um… yeah.” Carli nodded. “Yeah, I-I talked to them.” _

_ Making sure to mark her page, Hope closed her book and set it aside. “And?” she pried, brow raised in question. “What’d they say?” _

_ “Well… they said I’m good. Uh… I mean, anything they give me won’t be as good as what they say they’ll give you, but… it’s not too bad,” Carli said, shrugging noncommittally. _

_ Hope’s shoulders deflated slightly at hearing the girl talk about Washington in such a way that made it obvious that her heart wasn’t set on the school. _

_ “Oh, that’s… that’s good. Have you… Well, have you heard from any other places yet?” Hope practically forced the words out of her mouth, but she knew that it was the right thing to ask as not only the girlfriend, but the best friend. And besides, she was genuinely curious about the girl’s other offers. _

_ “Uh, yeah. A couple other schools want to talk and uh, well, there’s… Rutgers,” Carli answered. And it was right then that Hope had her answer. “They’ve been pretty relentless, to be honest. The coach emailed me and… I don’t know, they said they’ve seen tapes from last season and it’s kind of crazy, honestly…” _

_ Hope plastered on a proud smile, or at least an attempt at one, but it was easy to see the way her body had more or less slumped defeatedly. Despite how proud she is of the girl she loves of getting a great school to notice her, she couldn’t help the hurt she felt at seeing Carli so excited at the prospect of going to a school all the way on the other side of the country. _

_ She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn’t even notice Carli had stopped talking and was now just gazing back at her sadly. _

_ “You know, you could at least _ try _ to look excited for me,” she commented. _

_ “What? I… Carli, of course I’m excited for you. It’s just that I…” _

_ “It’s just that you expected me to go to Washington.” _

_ “No, that’s not… I just didn’t think that you would want to go there. Jersey, I mean.” _

_ “Why wouldn’t I want to go to go to Jersey? And besides, it’s not the state that I care about, it’s the school. And Rutgers is a good school with a good program and they want me. Why wouldn’t I want to go?” _

_ “It’s just that if… if I’m at Washington, then…,” Hope sighed, “you’ll be on the other side of the country.” _

_ “...And?” _

_ “And?! Carli, you’ll be on the  _ other side _ of the country! What is that, like, three thousand miles?” Hope exclaimed, fully sitting up on her bed. “Sorry if I’m not excited about the possibility of spending the next part of my life with my  _ girlfriend _ three thousand miles away from me.” _

_ “Hope,” Carli said, moving towards the keeper to take her hand, “we’re going to be okay. C’mon, I know us. There’s too much here for us to be screwed up by a little distance.” _

_ “You don’t know that, Carls. And it isn’t a little distance. It’s… a lot of distance. And, and long distance isn’t easy. Plus with the time difference… I just… I don’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you.” _

_ “Hey.” Carli lifted Hope’s head to meet her gaze. “You’re not going to lose me. We’ll see each other during holidays and… maybe we’ll get to each other’s games if they’re close enough. Plus there’s the NCAA tournament… It’s not like we’ll never see each other.” _

_ “That’s not the point.” _

_ Carli leaned back, studying Hope curiously. “Then what is the point?” _

_ “The point is… that’s  _ 3,000  _ miles, Carli. We won’t get to be together that often and you’re okay with that?” _

_ “I-” Her shoulders sagged, “I mean, I’m not necessarily okay with it, but if that’s the situation we end up in, isn’t it better to think about the times when we  _ do _ get to see each other?” _

_ “And what if it still doesn’t work?” _

_ “Why are you pushing this? Why are you so convinced that it won’t end well?” _

_ “Because how can it?” _

_ “Well, maybe because we love each other?” _

_ “But that obviously isn’t enough, is it?” Hope snipped. _

_ Carli sighed, shaking her head. She made her way to move off the bed. Wordlessly, she packed her things and headed towards the door. Opening the door, she paused before leaving. “You know, I at least thought you would be proud of me.” The door slamming closed rang through Hope’s head for the rest of the night a she scolded herself for what she did. Nevertheless, her hurt was still overshadowing her feelings of guilt, not allowing her to call up her girlfriend and apologize. _

_ The next morning, Hope sent the first texts, none of them an apology. When Carli replied with a short text, it was easy for the keeper’s bitterness to arise once again. The mid dodged Hope for most of the day, having Becky pick her up for school instead. This tension was what created the scene later that day at practice. _

_ Later that day, Hope decided to call Carli and the mid, thinking that maybe something good would come out of the phone call (i.e. an apology), answered on the first ring. _

_ “... Carls?” The nickname allowed Carli to relax, knowing that the only time Hope wouldn’t use it was when she was upset with her. _

_ “Yeah?” she responded, not wanting to seem too eager. After all, she still wanted the keeper to apologize. _

_ “I… This isn’t really something I wanted to do over the phone, but I didn’t think you’d want me coming to your house for this. Or… at all, really, just in case your parents… Anyway, um… I was thinking… Hope trailed off and she could heard a deep breath through the line. _

_ “Hope?” she inquired, slightly confused about what was going on. _

_ “I think we should take a break.” _

_ Carli froze. _

_ “... Carls?” _

_ “Uh, w-what do you mean by...?” _

_ “I think… we should take a break. From each other.” _

_ “Why would you...?” Carli couldn’t even finish her sentences. _

_ “I just need some time. To think.” _

_ “Hope, if this is about last night…-” _

_ “It’s not. Or… maybe it is, but there’s some other stuff and I just… I need to take time to think.” _

_ Carli hesitated before asking, “Is this about O’Hara?” She had seen the way they had been at practice earlier, the way Kelley had somehow gotten Hope to open up to her. She had seen their relationship through the years, especially the way Kelley would hang on to every word that came out of the keeper’s mouth. _

_ “What are you talking about?” She sounded confused. _

_ “You didn’t think I’d see you two being all buddy-buddy in the bleachers today? After you chewed out your  _ captain _ in front of the entire team?” _

_ “Carli…” A sigh. “She has nothing to do with this. I just need some time.” _

_ “Funny you should say that because you didn’t seem to need any time  _ before _ she went and comforted you today.” _

_ “I’m not breaking up with you, Carli. I still love you, okay?” Hope pressed. “I still love you.” _

_ “Yeah, well, that obviously isn’t enough, is it?” Carli threw out before ending the call. _

 

The keeper sat back quietly, no part of her desiring to take part in the conversation taking place in front of her. She watched the way Carli’s face showed more excitement than she had ever seen it when she was talking about Rutgers and visiting and college and scholarships and  _ Jersey _ . It was obvious that she was ready and planning to take the offer and it caused a painful pang in her chest, the same one that prevented her from trying to repair their very broken relationship. The same one that relentlessly told her that Carli was moving across the country and effectively ending their future. The same one that said she needed to move on. The same one that pushed her to focus on her own damn career.

A soft buzz from her phone drew her attention. Picking it up, she turned it over to see three words from the person she found to be serving as a more than welcome distraction lately.

> _ Tiny: Are you okay? _

The sight of the words pulled a sigh out of her and she began to type out a reply.

> _ Yolo: No. But we’re celebrating. _
> 
> _ Tiny: That guy was the Rutgers scout, wasn’t he? _
> 
> _ Yolo: Yeah. And she’s visiting next weekend. _
> 
> _ Tiny: So you’re free then? _
> 
> _ Yolo: Not the point, Kelley. _
> 
> _ Tiny: Have you talked to her? _
> 
> _ Yolo: No, not about that. _
> 
> _ Tiny: Well, are you going to? _
> 
> _ Yolo: I will. _
> 
> _ Tiny: Alright, once more. With FEELING. _
> 
> _ Yolo: Shut up. _
> 
> _ Tiny: I’m just trying to help. _
> 
> _ Yolo: You’re not. _
> 
> _ Tiny: Really? _
> 
> _ Yolo: Really. _
> 
> _ Tiny: Fine. Let’s talk about something else then. _
> 
> _ Yolo: Thank you. _

 

And so Kelley brought up some random infomercial she saw before leaving for school and Hope laughed at the text and that’s how it was.

A particular forward’s shoulders slumped at noticing how engrossed in her phone Kelley had become. It was Hope. It always was. Not even two minutes after the apparent end of her time with Kelley, Allie had nudged her, casually asking for her opinion on a new TV show that came out. One that, due to her time training, she hadn’t had an opportunity to watch. A noncommittal shrug would have deterred most people from trying to draw her into the conversation again, but Allie wasn’t like most people.

“Well, Tobin thinks it’s a dumb show, which it isn’t,” she accused, a pointed look towards the aforementioned midfielder.

Tobin faltered slightly at Alex turning her gaze towards her, but she regained composure and shrugged. “I just think it’s too much drama in one show. Just too unrealistic,” she countered.

“Yeah, but there’s so many good heart-stopping moments. It’s fantastic,” Allie gushed.

“And this is why I don’t want to watch TV with you.”

Allie rolled her eyes before she perked up again. “Oh!  _ Speaking _ of heart-stopping moments, your goal was freakin’  _ amazing _ today, Alex.”

The smile and ‘thanks’ she received from the forward apparently wasn’t enough because she began gushing over how spectacular the goal was and how she practically stunned the crowd into silence.

“It’s… It was just a goal, Al. It’s no big deal,” Alex cut in. “I didn’t even win the game, Carli did that.”

“Yeah, but she wouldn’t have been in the position to do that if it wasn’t for your goal, Lex,” Tobin said, the nickname rolling naturally off her tongue. “Sure, with Carli’s scoring we would’ve been tied, but we needed your goal to win, too. Hell, we probably wouldn’t have even scored again if it wasn’t for your goal. Your goal was kind of, like, the thing that woke us up, gave us a little more energy so we could Carli that ball and win.”

Caught off guard by Tobin speaking directly to her for the first time in nearly a week, Alex stammered a thank you as she smiled at the midfielder. Tobin returned the smile before Allie spoke again and the three fell into easy conversation then, comments about the other team’s players turning into some argument about surviving a zombie apocalypse.

The night ended rather uneventfully, but also rather late, so after paying off their food, they exited the restaurant. Splitting up, they headed for different cars. Kelley made her way to Ashlyn’s jeep to grab her things, already having decided to be driven by the other keeper. She tried her best to ignore the look Ashlyn gave her as she walked away towards Hope’s car.

“Alright, there’s an open seat in my car,” Ashlyn announced. “Tobs?” She looked towards the mid who seemed to be in the middle of an intense discussion about weaponry.

“Huh?” Tobin replied, unaware of the situation.

The blonde rolled her eyes. “You want a ride?” she asked, motioning to the empty seat Kelley left behind.

“Oh,” Tobin responded, her eyes landing on Alex standing next to her. The forward seemed apprehensive about her answer to the question, but Tobin offered her a small smile before nodding her head. “Yeah.” She turned towards Ashlyn. “Thanks, I’ll just grab my stuff from JJ.”

Heading over to JJ’s car, she could almost feel Christen’s eyes watching her movements. She cleared her throat, tossing her bag over her shoulder before thanking JJ. Instead of walking away right after, she let her eyes meet Christen’s for several moments before she spoke.

“See you monday,” she said, sending a smile her way before walking back over to Ashlyn’s car.

Hopping into what was previously Kelley’s seat, she pulled on her seatbelt and came face to face with the other four people in the car. It turned out they had been watching the interaction the entire time.

“What?” Tobin asked, brows scrunched together.

“You want to tell us what that was about?” Ashlyn asked, an obvious grin on her face.

“Nothing. I was just saying bye.”

“Hm.”

“ _ What _ , Ash?”

The blonde shrugged, turning in her seat to face front. “Nothing.”

“Just drive, Harris,” Tobin commanded, pulling a laugh out from the other passengers.

Ashlyn grumbled under breath about being a chauffeur as she pulled out of the parking spot but was silenced by the kiss Ali placed on her cheek.

In the lot, Carli was pulling her things out of Hope’s car, much to the chagrin of the keeper. “Carls, I can drive you home, too. It’s not a big deal,” Hope said.

“No, it’s fine. Becky’s got a free seat in her car, anyway, since Allie’s going with JJ,” Carli explained.

“Yeah, but why take that one free seat when there’s more space in my car?” Hope pointed out, crossing her arms.

The mid only froze for a second before she slung her bag over her shoulder. Facing the taller girl, she said, “Goodnight, Hope.”

Hope stood there for a moment before relenting. “Okay, goodnight, Carli,” she said, walking two steps forward to wrap the girl up in a hug that said so much more than all their words had that night. “I’ll text you.” She pulled away.

“Alright, sure,” Carli replied dismissively before turning around to get her things and herself into Becky’s car.

A deep sigh escaped her lips as she watched the car drive away.

“You okay?” Kelley asked, concern etched onto her features as she gazed at the keeper.

Hope looked over at her favorite defender. “Am I ever?”

“Fair point.”

The two got into Hope’s car, buckling their seatbelts before Hope pulled out of the parking spot.

“So what were you and Morgan talking about all night?” Hope asked, stopping at a red light.

“Moe? Did I talk to her tonight?” Kelley replied, obviously racking through memories of the night to try and answer her own question.

“No,  _ Alex _ ,” Hope replied, rolling her eyes.

“Oh. Nothing really. Just random stuff.”

“Really? She seemed pretty interested in this… ‘random’ stuff.”

“It was just a couple stories about Tobin, Ash, and I. Nothing you haven’t heard before. Or better, nothing you haven’t experienced.”

Hope chuckled. “I’m just saying she seemed really interested,” she reiterated.

“Hm.”

“She likes you, you know.”

The statement somehow caught Kelley off-guard. Kelley who so rarely was shocked by things, much less to the point of not reacting to it at all. In any other case, Hope knew from experience, Kelley would have easily thrown back some comment about Hope being jealous and the keeper would’ve rolled her eyes before replying with some comment about finally getting rid of the girl.

And yet she didn’t.

Instead, she changed the topic.

“So you staying over tonight?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually didn't mean to end it like that, but it just kind of popped into my head and so I wrote it. Hopefully you enjoyed it and let me know what you think!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ali and Ashlyn haven't had much time alone together. Instead, that's what Christen and Tobin get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY. I actually started writing this chapter like months ago and I just never finished it because of lack of time and motivation. BUT HERE IT IS. I gotta say, I wanted to do a bit more with this chapter but then I didn't. However, I hope you all like it anyway and there's some exciting stuff coming up in terms of stuff y'all have asked for.

“We’ll see you Monday, alright?” Ashlyn said, eyeing Tobin outside her window.

Tobin nodded, pulling her bag higher up on her shoulder.  She gave a small wave, mumbling a ‘see ya’ before heading towards her front door and into her house.

Ashlyn returned her attention to the girl sitting in the passenger seat.

“Saved the best for last,” she said, sending Ali a smile and a wink and receiving a chuckle in response. Shifting the car back into drive, she began the drive towards Ali’s house.

With one hand on the wheel and the other intertwined with Ali’s, she drove slowly, not wanting to rush through her time alone with the girl. They sat in silence for a minute or two, letting the music from the radio fill the comfortable silence between them. Ashlyn began to hum along to the song, causing Ali to follow her actions and before they knew it, they were yelling out the lyrics. As the song faded to an end, they laughed at how carried away they got.

They fell silent once again before Ali posed a question out of curiosity.

“So did you notice Kelley and Alex at dinner earlier?” Ali asked.

“Mhm,” Ashlyn replied, nodding.

“They looked pretty friendly,” Ali added.

“Until Kelley decided to ignore Alex to stare at her phone instead,” Ashlyn muttered, obviously annoyed with her freckled friend’s actions that night.

“Yeah… Alex didn’t look too happy about that,” Ali agreed. “But at least Tobin cheered her up a bit.”

“I was pretty surprised about that, actually. She still seemed upset about the whole Christen thing, so I thought she would keep up the silent treatment for a while longer,” Ashlyn responded.

“Yeah. Me, too… but, uh, speaking of Tobin… what do you think she said to Christen earlier?” Ali pondered aloud.

“Knowing Tobs, it was just her saying goodnight,” Ashlyn replied, chuckling. “At least it looked like they were nice to one another. Better than the way it’s been recently.”

“Looks like they’re getting past it, though,” Ali chipped in, turning to look at the blonde. “Maybe they’ll be able to fix things.”

“I hope so. It’s better than seeing both of them so sad all the time,” Ash said.

“Anything’s better than how Christen was this summer,” Ali continued. “She was practically inconsolable.”

“...You and Christen talked a lot this summer, huh?” Ashlyn inquired, remembering that at the football game Christen had mentioned communicating with Ali over the summer.

Ali nodded. “Yeah, we trained together when she wasn’t at camp,” Ali answered. “And when she was at camp, we would just talk on the phone.”

Ashlyn stayed quiet for a moment, debating whether or not to ask Ali the question that had been on her mind for a while now. Ultimately, her curiosity won out.

“... Did she tell you what happened? This summer, I mean,” Ashlyn asked.

“Ash, you know what happened. We all do,” Ali said quietly.

“There’s… There has to be more to it, though. All Tobin said was that Christen called her up one night and told her it was over… That’s not like her, Alex. You know that,” Ashlyn said. “Did she say anything about it? About what happened or at least _ why _ she did it?”

“I don’t know much more than you, Ash.” Ali sighed. “She… That night, she called me after she called Tobin and she was practically hysterical. All I could hear was her crying and saying something about making a mistake. I kept trying to ask her to explain what was going on, but she could barely get any words out, much less anything coherent.”

“It just doesn’t make sense. I mean, you know. You talked to her on the phone. She and Tobs were doing well,  _ really _ well, actually. It just came out of nowhere. It just… It doesn’t make sense,” Ashlyn rambled, shaking her head.

“No, it doesn’t. And I tried asking Chris, but she just kept saying something how it was too much and she couldn’t handle things.”

“That’s it? Nothing else?”

“No, sorry. I really wish I knew more because then maybe I’d have known how to help,” Ali said, obviously upset.

Giving her hand a light squeeze, Ashlyn shook her head. “No, Alex. It’s not your fault. They need to figure this out on their own, anyway. We can only do so much.”

“Yeah, you’re right.  I just feel bad, you know? I want them to be happy.” Ali trained her eyes on Ashlyn, leaning the side of her face against the headrest. “Like us.”

Ashlyn couldn’t help the grin on her face. “Speaking of us, do you have some time tonight? We can hang out for a little bit,” she said. “I just feel bad that we haven’t spent that much time together since we’ve been busy dealing with our friends’ problems.”

“Aw, don’t feel bad, Ash. We’ve both been busy with the start of the season and everything,” Ali responded. “And as much as I miss spending time with you, I can’t tonight. My parents probably want me home.”

“Oh, but it won’t be too long. Maybe just like an hour or two. You can just tell them that dinner ran late or something,” Ashlyn reasoned.

“No, Ash. My parents want me home and I’ve got work to do, anyway,” Ali explained, trying to keep as much exasperation out of her voice as possible. She really didn’t want to end up arguing about this of all things.

“Oh, come on. It’s Friday. You’ve got the whole weekend to do work and knowing you, you could probably have two hours and you’d still get it done. You’re just that amazing,” Ashlyn joked, apparently missing hints of the growing tension between them.

“Yeah, but -“ Ali got out before Ashlyn interrupted her.

“And we haven’t hung out, just the two off us, in a while…”

“Ash, I said no. I can’t,” Ali said, the hard tone of her voice not leaving any room for debate.

Ashlyn stayed silent then, but she didn’t let go of Ali’s hand despite how much she wanted to pull away. Her grip loosened slightly, leaving her hand more or less just laying in its place in Ali’s hold. Of course Ali took notice.

Before they knew it, Ashlyn pulled up in front of Ali’s house. Ashlyn said nothing, but Ali waited a few seconds anyway before pulling her hand out of the blonde’s. She turned in her seat to grab her bag in the back. Turning and facing straight ahead again for a few moments, she waited for something to be said, but the silence continued. She resisted the urge to release a sigh, instead swallowing it down.

Opening the car door, she hopped out of the vehicle and began to walk toward her house. She stopped when she heard Ashlyn’s voice called out to her.

“Alex!”

“Yeah?” She spun around to face the blonde, who was currently craning her neck to look out the passenger window.

“Goodnight.”

At the blonde’s tone, Ali visibly softened and sent back a smile. “Goodnight, Ash.”

She entered her house, locking the door behind her. As she pulled her shoes off, she noticed through the window that Ashlyn hadn’t left yet, the blonde staring at the house with her Jeep still running.

Rolling her eyes, she pulled out her phone to send a text.

> _ Princess <3: I’m good. Safe. _

Inside the car, Ashlyn smiled at the text before replying.

> _ My keeper <3: Good. I’m glad. _

Ali grinned at the words, unable to stop her happiness at how protective Ashlyn was over her sometimes. She turned around, ready to head upstairs with her bag on her shoulder when another notification sounds on her phone.

> _ My keeper <3: I love you. _

The defender practically melted at the three words, those of which were said to her quite often, or at least, whenever she was talking to Ashlyn. She unlocked her phone, ready to send back a message when she heard a weak voice call out her name from the couch.

“Ali?” The voice croaked out, causing her to look towards its source. “Is that you?”

She made her way to the couch and shoved her phone into her pocket, moving with urgency considering she hadn’t heard that voice in days.

Distracted by this new development, the heartfelt message from the keeper sat open and read but unresponded to.

By the time Ashlyn arrived home, Ali still hadn’t sent anything back and as much as she wanted to stay up to wait for a response, her drooping eyelids were causing her to take full notice of the fatigue setting in.

At Ali’s house, the defender has already fallen asleep, phone face down on her bedside table as she turned over on her side to sleep. She forgot to reply. 

* * *

 After Ashlyn dropped her off, Tobin found herself too wired postgame and post dinner to go to sleep, so she decided to watch some TV for a while. So she sat on her couch, flipping through channels in search of something interesting enough to hold her attention for more than two minutes. She thought she had finally found a program when someone knocks on the front door. A confused look overtook her features as she racked her brain to figure out who could possibly be at her house at nearly midnight.

Pushing herself up off the couch, she opened the door to find Christen on the other side, wrapped in a familiar jacket. She pushed down the tiny part of her that felt giddy at seeing the forward in her clothes, just as it did all those months ago. Instead she gave the girl a small smile before greeting her.

“Chris, hey,” Tobin said.

“Hey,” Christen replied, obviously feeling slightly awkward about showing up to her ex-girlfriend’s house so late. “Um… I noticed you left your jacket in JJ’s car, so I offered to drop it off and grabbed it, but then I, uh, got a little cold when I was walking here to bring it back to you.” She ducked her head slightly, clearly embarrassed. “Sorry.”

“No! It’s -” Tobin started quickly, her voice a little louder than she mean for it be. She got a hold of herself for a moment before she spoke again. “It’s fine.”

Christen paused before pulling the jacket off, holding it out to Tobin. “O-Okay,” she said, allowing Tobin to take the garment from her. “That’s, uh… that’s all I wanted to do.” A moment of silence before she plastered on a smile that looked hesitant at best. “See you monday?” She didn’t wait for a response before turning around and making her way back towards the sidewalk, arms wrapped tightly around herself.

“Wait!” Christen turned around to face Tobin. “Uh… you said you were cold on the way here.”

“Uh…”

“Aren’t you going to be cold on the way back?” Tobin asked.

Christen released a nervous laugh. “I guess I didn’t really think that through, huh?” she responded.

“… No, I guess not,” Tobin agreed, chuckling lightly.

An awkward silence passed over them, during which Tobin almost offered to let her keep the jacket until monday but she thought better of it. Instead, she tossed out a question that caught even her off guard.

“Are you busy tonight?” Tobin asked, leaning against the doorway.

Christen thought about the stack of work that had been piling up on her desk over the past week. She internally cringed at the amount of things she had to do as she replied, “No, not really.”

“Um… do you want to hangout?” Tobin asked, quickly adding, “I’m kind of bored right now, to be honest, and being home alone doesn’t really help with that…”

Somehow she managed to keep herself from thinking back to the previous times Tobin had asked her to hangout while she was at home alone. Instead, she nodded, realizing that it would probably be the best time to be alone and talk, hopefully something close to the way they used to.

They ended up on Tobin’s couch, about a foot of space in between them, watching some new show on Netflix. Granted, it’s not the one they had been planning to start over the summer, but it was a good show nonetheless. The two laughed at the right parts, both of them even rolling their eyes at certain lines. They’re at least three episodes in before Tobin threw out a question that surprised Christen.

“How was camp?” Tobin asked, her eyes shifting away from the television and towards Christen.

“... What?” Christen responded, as if she couldn’t believe what Tobin was asking.

“Youth camp. This summer. How was it?” Tobin clarified.

“Oh, uh…” Christen trailed off, not really knowing where or how to start. She shrugged. “It was fun.”

“Fun? That’s it?” Tobin replied, chuckling. “C’mon, tell me about it.” She turned her body sideways on the couch, now completely focused on the girl beside her.

“Okay, well, it was weird.” Tobin raised a brow as this. “It was, like, my fifth camp at that point so I knew a decent amount of the people there. I just remember showing up that first day when everybody was getting in and it was really obvious who the new kids were because they were more or less off to the side looking really nervous. And I don’t know, I just… I remember my first camp and not really knowing anybody, so I just knew how they were feeling. I guess it was just pretty weird for me to be the one leading people around instead of being the one led around,” Christen explained.

“Oh, yeah. No, that makes sense. But that’s pretty cool that you’ve almost become a regular and everything,” Tobin commented.

“Yeah, I guess so, but you know, it’s never set in stone. Every time I get a call from the coach, there’s a little part of me that still has a hard time grasping it. And it doesn’t even have anything to do with not thinking I’m not a good enough player to be there, not anymore. It’s just still surprising that I’m able to do all of this, you know?”

Tobin nodded in understanding. Having had her own experience with youth camps years ago, she knew exactly what Christen was talking about.

The two talked more about camp for a while, Tobin wanting to know more about Christen’s experience. And honestly? She just loved watching the way the forward’s eye lit up when she mentioned a goal she had scored in a practice scrimmage or a prank she helped pull with her teammates.

However, Tobin struggled with not bringing up with not bringing up  _ that night _ . Her curiosity still hadn’t waned and in all honesty, neither had her frustration. She wanted to know what happened and what she had done to cause Christen to do what she did. But instead she held herself back from prying, not wanting this peaceful night to end. She even managed to stop herself when Christen reached a point in her story that caused her to freeze and hesitate before finally skipping over an entire day. Tobin knew it was likely the day after  _ that night _ and instead chose not to comment on it despite how much she wanted to.

Instead, she focused on how happy Christen looked talking about the youth camp. A part of her used to be jealous about Christen’s experience, despite having her own several years back, but over the past year, she had grown to love the way the camps affected the forward. It was obviosu that it made her love the game even more because as fun as it was to play for a national championship for the school, it was even more exciting to play against other countries on the youth squad.

When Christen mentioned a debate she had with her teammates regarding the different European leagues, their conversation shifted to the topic of the Premier League and La Liga. Neither of them really cared all that much for the Bundesliga or the French Ligue 1. Unfortunately, the change in the topic of conversation opened up a debate about which teams were better and which teams would likely have a chance to win their respective cups. They even made predictions as to who would make it to the quarter-finals all the way to the finals of Champions League.

Before they knew it, it was a bit too far into the night and Tobin didn’t necessarily feel all that comfortable letting Christen walk home despite how short of a walk it was and how their town was actually so safe that Tobin left doors unlocked all of the times.

“Chris, just stay here for the night. It’s late,” Tobin said, the nickname rolling off her tongue naturally.

“It’s fine, Tobin. I can go home.”

“Press, seriously. It’s like 3am. Just stay, alright?” Tobin insisted.

“Tobin, I’m -” Christen cut herself off, releasing a yawn. “I’m fine.” Even she knew that wasn’t very convincing.

Shaking her head, Tobin took her hand and led her upstairs, practically pushing her into her room. “Go to sleep, Chris,” she said. “You can borrow some of my clothes if you don’t want to sleep in what you’ve got on.” She let out a yawn, gesturing around the room. “You know where everything is.”

“Wait, so where are you gonna sleep?” Christen asked, turning around to face Tobin.

“I’ll just crash in Perry’s room. I don’t think she’ll mind considering she’s a couple hundred miles away right now,” Tobin said, shrugging.

“Tobin, I don’t want to put you out. I can go sleep on the couch,” Christen suggested.

“It’s fine, Chris. Just take my bed, alright? I’ll be fine,” Tobin answered.

“... If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.” Tobin nodded. “Goodnight, Chris.” She moved forward to wrap the girl up in a hug.

“Goodnight, Tobin. Thanks,” Chris responded.

“Not a problem.”

And with that, Tobin exited the room, heading one room over and plopping face first onto Perry’s bed. She was out like a light.

Back in her room, things moved a bit slower. Press decided she wanted to sleep in a slightly looser shirt and opened Tobin’s drawer to find an appropriate shirt. After sifting through the drawer, she found an old USA shirt that looked suspiciously similar to one that she had had trouble finding. Releasing a sigh, she pulled it on and climbed into bed.

There, surrounded by Tobin’s scent masking the sheets and the pillows, she found herself more comfortable than she been in a while. But before she could mull over how much she missed Tobin and simply being around her, exhaustion took over, forcing the girl’s eyes to shut and her breathing to slow and even out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed it and let me know what you think/what you'd like to see.


End file.
